


DMMD: Chains of Fate: Reader-tan Edition

by KPGrace



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Male/Female Reader - Freeform, POV Second Person, Slight Magic AU, Warning: Foul language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-09 18:06:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 39,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8906509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPGrace/pseuds/KPGrace
Summary: When you, a not-so-average young adult moved to Midorijima a few years ago to start a new life, all you ever wanted was to live your life peacefully while running your bakery and cafe with your tiny not-so-average family and give back to the community by using your hidden talents for the good of the people. On the same island, a young man wishes to live the rest of his life in a similar manner for the sake of his grandmother. However, once fate decided that the two of you were to meet, neither of you thought that the impact would result to a series of events that would lead you both not only to discover the truth about yourselves, but the fate of the island you call home.





	1. 001. Link_Setup

**Author's Note:**

> As it says on the title, this is a version of Chains of Fate starring the Reader (as in you) as the protagonist. Both male and female readers are taken into account. This is mostly a test to see if I could pull off a second person format.

* * *

 

Live for us...

 

Grow for us...

 

Learn for us...

 

Become strong for us...

 

Go forth onto the world for us...

 

So that one day, you could finally...

 

Avenge us!

 

* * *

 

There was a new urban legend sweeping across Midorijima Island.

It all started seven years ago when a group of thugs were confronted and beat up by a stranger who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere while chasing down a civilian.  According to the them, the stranger was covered from head to toe in a full suit of armor.  Nobody believed them, of course, for who in their right mind would go about running around in a suit of armor in the current day and age?

Several days after that incident, rumors started flying around the Old Residential District regarding a mysterious stranger coming to help random citizens in times of need.  Whether it's an innocent person who got the wrong kind of attention after taking a wrong turn in an alley, an out-of-control vehicle about to hit an unwitting passers-by, an elderly all alone in a street who had fallen and can't get up, or a child whose pet got itself stuck on a tree or electric post, all those who have been helped and have bore witness spoke of one thing in common: a knight in shining armor.

As word got around, the rumors began to vary.  Some said the mysterious knight had a sword, others said he only fought using their fists, others said they have a tremendous strength that was enough to stop a truck with only their hands, others even said they could fly.  By the end of it, a good number of people believed a superhero had come to their island, though others remained skeptical due to the lack of sufficient evidence to prove the existence of such a person.  Some people began to sleuth around to try and confirm the existence of such a stranger, but all efforts have been fruitless as the mysterious knight was a master of elusiveness and avoided being captured on photos or videos as much as possible.

However, it was said that it all changed when they were forced to play a round of a popular game called Rhyme and won.  From then on, the mysterious knight became famous all over the Old Residential District by their Rhyme name...

King Arthur.

* * *

 

"[Sir/Lady] [Name], it's now time to close the shop.  Please make haste," said Kay, the young-looking, impassive, and always well-dressed cashier and host of Harmony Delights Bakery and Cafe at the corner of the east and south sides of the Old Residential District in Midorijima island.  Twilight was looming and it was time to close up the shop for the day.

"Yeah, I hear you. Just a minute," you replied without glancing back as you brushed back a stray lock of [hair texture] [color] hair from your face while stuffing three large boxes full of unsold goods to give away to charity centers.  You thought that it was better that way than to just throw it all away like some other culinarian shops would since it was against the law to sell day-old goods despite the food would still be perfectly edible the next day and beyond with proper storage and refrigeration. Plus, it was such a shame that not everyone could afford such good food even with your affordable prices.  Kay decided not to argue, for once the owner and proprietor of Harmony Delights has set their sights on a goal, they would personally make sure to see it to the end.  Well, that plus a tendency to make more that the necessary amount of everything, giving them away would make a lot of sense.

You hefted the laden boxes into a stack, then clasped your hands together, and whispered a few words.  Almost immediately, a web of vein-like patterns shining with a faint blue glow appeared on your arms, starting from the fingertips and ending at the elbows.  You then crouched down lift the entire stack by the bottom box with nary any sort of struggle, as if they were stuffed with feathers rather than packaged meals.

You made your way towards the front door of the shop, passing by Kay who had finished pulling down the steel shutters.

"You know, I worry for you sometimes," he said as you passed, adjusting the round spectacles he wore over his strange pink-colored eyes.  "I'm proud of you for dedicating some of your time for a noble cause, but do you really need to go as far as the Northern District? That place is off limits and possibly teeming with hoodlums.  What if something happens and you don't make it back?" You stopped in your tracks.  Kay couldn't express emotions as properly as a real person can, but you have lived with him long enough for you to tell what he really felt by looking at and listening carefully to every subtle twitch of his face and cadence of his voice.

"Big bro, we talked about this a dozen times," you said, facing the elder man with a confident beaming smile.  "The locals of the Northern District aren't so bad once you get to know them.  And besides, I've got Merlin. If things start to get ugly, he'll be sure to protect me.  No need to worry, okay?" As if on cue, Merlin—your AllMate in the form of a snowy owl wearing a sparkling royal purple scarf, flew from his perch next to the shop counter onto your shoulder.

"[Name] is right," he said in a voice akin to a wizardly scholar.  "There is no need to fret.  You know, I can be rather scrappy when needed."  He puffed up his feathers to make himself look bigger to emphasize his point.

"See? I'll be fine.  As long as we're together, no one would hurt us."

Kay sighed.  "There is just not talking you out of it, is there?" he asked while running a hand through his leafy 'hair'.  You answered with a chuckle.

"No, I guess not," you said.  "Well, I might as well get a move one before all this food gets too cold. See you later! Save some dinner for me, will you?" You were out the door before your brother-figure could say anything else.

"Honestly, that [boy/girl]..." Kay slowly shook his head in resignation at his young charge’s antics before retreating upstairs to their home for a nice warm bath and some herbal tea.

Upon exiting the shop, you and Merlin hurried to the back of the building to a motorcycle fitted with a sidecar already sat in waiting.  The boxes took up the all of the empty space once they were loaded.  Merlin moved to sit at the front of the sidecar while you put on your safety gear and clambered onto the bike and turned on the ignition.

"Let's go!" You kicked off from the ground and rode away.

* * *

 

The North District of Midorijima was a gloomy dark place compared to the rest of the Old Residential District.  Ever since a man named Toue came and practically took over the island years ago, a lot of people have been displaced to make way for the Platinum Jail—a giant amusement facility that was separated from the Old Residential District by a great wall.  Since then, the area has turned into a ghost town.  The thing about it being off limits was an unspoken rule among the general populace of Midorijima as the place has become a sanctuary for criminals running from the law, most of which were people who got in so deep into poverty due to their displacement that they had no other choice but to turn to crime for survival.

It was six years ago when you first ventured inside on the first day of your self-imposed personal mission to spread a little kindness, heedless of the potential dangers that lurked within every nook and cranny.  So it was only inevitable that you would be met by the shady residents.  However, instead of showing fear, you gave them your best smile and asked if they would care for a little something to eat because as it turned out, charity centers could only take a limited amount of food donations and thus you were always left with extra.  Such a voluntary gesture was so rare these days that they were struck dumb, unsure how to react.  When asked about what you wanted in return, you simply said that you wanted nothing from them.  You were giving them food not because you wanted a favor or had an ulterior motive, but because you wanted to.  That was all there was to it.

You was the first and only person (so far anyway) to boldly go alone in the North District and come back out unharmed.

It didn't stop there.  You took it upon yourself to visit every other day.  It was only a matter of time until you gained a reputation, earning you the nickname "Pastry [Boy/Girl]".  To the people of the North District, you was like a heavenly blessing sent down to earth.  The presence of the [tall/short] [age] [man/woman] with [hair style] [color] hair in a white and yellow baseball cap, navy blue over-sized hoodie, striped gray shirt, black boot-cut jeans, and blue sneakers riding on a silver motorbike equipped with a loaded sidecar along with a snowy owl AllMate became an anticipated event that never failed to deliver.  You was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dank place, and thus was always welcome.

Today was just another of those days for you.  Though you were running rather late.  ‘Better that than never’ so as the popular saying went.

Traveling from the East District to the North was an hour long journey on your motorcycle.  Soon the colorful surroundings and lively atmosphere began to give way to a gray and gloomy one.  You zigged and zagged through familiar roads, the sound of the motorbike engine breaking through the eerie silence.  It served as the signal announcing your arrival.  Although sometimes, it would also serve to attract a rare unexpected encounter.

A tall figure appeared in the middle of your path without any warning.

"[Name], watch out!" Merlin yelled.  Your partner let out startled squeak and your eyes widened in surprise, gripping the handlebars tighter and leaned your torso far to the right.  The motorbike sharply swerved then skidded to a halt a tiny inch away from the stranger.

"Phew! That was a close one," you said, relieved that you didn't run over someone.  "You alright, Merlin?"

"I'm unharmed, thank you for asking," the owl answered, flying down to rest on your shoulder, having taken flight to avoid getting tossed away.

"Super."  You turned to the stranger you almost hit.  "What about you, good sir? Are you al… right?" You fell silent the minute your gaze landed on the stranger.

A confused Merlin followed his partner’s gaze and his eyes nearly became wider than they usually are.  “Oh my...”

The stranger before them was a tall well-built man.  He had long brown hair styled into dreadlocks put up in a ponytail that faded into auburn and into red at the tips, tan skin, blue-green eyes, a set of high cheekbones and an aquiline nose.  His attire consisted of a black shirt, a military-like gradient black to red coat with the right sleeve torn off, exposing his right arm; black combat boots that reach just below his kneecaps and torn jeans held up with a white belt.  His pink headband was his most notable trait, and it covered his forehead with a green, yellow and red pin tacked on the left bottom side.  Around his wrists and neck are what appear to be shackles, the one around his neck bearing a lock and the ones on his wrists having short chains attached to them.

He kept silent rather than answering your question while giving you the meanest, coldest glare a human face could muster.

"I'm sensing an awful lot of hostility emanating from him, be careful," Merlin said, dipping down and puffing up his feathers to get ready in case things begin to get ugly.

"Brother… Mink?" You stared in disbelief under the intense gaze.  “No way.  Is that really you? I haven’t seen you in a long while.”

The man’s glare went a bit deeper.  "Who are you? Are you in league with the authorities?" he asked in a deep baritone voice.

"N-No, I'm not!" You answered, waving your hands in front of yourself in denial. "Don’t you recognize me? It’s me, ‘Little [Nickname]’.  I used to live you and big sis after grandma took me in many years ago before… you know...”  You looked away, gaze downcast in shame.

The man known as Mink, let his glare soften a bit.  He stared at you as he processed what the young [man/woman] in front of him said.  Slowly, memories of him and his family playing and caring for a little orphan child who looked just like you and often carried around a stick and went after anyone guilty of doing anything you deemed ‘evil’.  He remembered his grandmother giving you a stern talking to after getting in trouble for hitting other kids; you would then counter-argue that you only did it because they were being mean to another kid or breaking rules set by other adults.

He also remembered giving your hair a friendly ruffling after you made a bold declaration to help protect the village from ruffians while saying that the village was peaceful enough that it wouldn’t be necessary.  Your pouting face at the end had been so cute that he couldn’t help but pinch and stretch them, much to your chagrin.

You had been part of his family for a few years. However, on the fateful day of his tribe’s massacre, you had vanished without a trace and with nary a word to anyone.  Mink had feared the worst.  But now, this young [man/woman] stood before him bearing a strong resemblance to that child his village fostered.  He wasn’t sure what how to react; the time he spent locked up in a dark prison only served to grow the deep void that he had been left with in the end of the tragedy.

“It’s been a long time since I saw you,” You continued, your lips curled up to a sad but relieved smile.  “I’m glad you’re still alive.  I didn’t think anyone survived on the day of the—”

“Stop,” Mink said, cutting you off.  “What are you doing here, [Name]?”

You nearly flinched at this cold harsh tone.  “W-Well… I-I’m just a concerned volunteer doing a little bit of charity work.  I'm not looking for any trouble.  I swear I'm not lying!"

Mink’s eyes narrowed. “No.  What are you doing here on this island?”

You weren’t sure how or what to answer.  “I...”

"Hey! It's Pastry [Boy/Girl]!"

Both parties rapidly turned their heads toward the old crumbling buildings as one by one, several heads began to poke out at the sound of shouting.

"Mink's back too!" echoed another shout.  As if on cue, people came out to surround you and Mink, all of them sporting wide grins on their faces.

"Wow, talk about a lucky," said a scruffy muscular man with light blond hair wearing a white shirt.  "Mink and Pastry [Boy/Girl] at the same day.  Who would've thought."

"Welcome back, Mink," said another man with green dyed hair wearing a studded jacket in greeting.  "You sure took a while.  Did you find what you were looking for?"

The tall man, now known as Mink, shook his head.  "Not yet."

“I see you two have finally met.”  A thick arm reached out over your shoulders as a blond man with the white shirt pulled you in for a friendly one-armed hug.  Merlin angrily screeched at him for two reasons—the first reason being that he almost got crushed by his beefy arm, and second for getting too close to his partner.

"This cutie right here is Pastry [Boy/Girl],” he said.  “[He’s/She's] been coming over here every other days for the past few years and offers up free food and drinks."

"For Pete's sake, Takemoto. [He/She] has a name," a green-haired man with slightly noticeable cheekbones chastised the former.  "It's [Name]. Seriously, after five years you ought to have learned it by now."

"Thank you, Mr. Yuzawa," you said, sounding glum but still grateful as you pushed Takemoto's arm from your shoulders.  "At least someone remembered."  Yuzawa gave you a thumbs-up in reply.  The rest of the crowd chuckled at Takemoto's folly.

"Is that so?" asked Mink, still not fully convinced.  "Who put you up to this?" Once more, all other sounds ceased.  "And what do you get in return? Surely there has to be a catch."

You straightened your posture and looked at the taller man directly in the eye.  From the way he acted and the warm reception the crowd had given him, Mink must have been important to them.  You could only guess how and why.

"There's no catch," you said.  "Nobody sent me.  I don't work for any organization. I'm just a person who decided to willingly spend some of my time spreading a little bit of kindness without expecting anything in return.  It may come off as suspicious, but that's the truth, and I'm standing with it… Plus, I tend to have a lot of extras from the cafe and I really don’t like to waste food."

"Kindness, you say? Even to criminals?" Such a concept was rare to most of them in a place like theirs.  Even in the other districts, it wasn't common for someone to just decide to go around helping people at random.  "You need to be more careful.  Who's to say that your generosity wouldn't be taken advantage of?"

Your eyebrows furrowed with determination.  "For one, I believe no one is born evil.  People are shaped by their environment and experiences.  Those who resort into breaking the law are more often than not pushed into it by circumstances beyond their control that threaten their survival and that of their loved ones.  Also, I have a lot of free time and I find it better spent like this than laying around doing nothing.  In other words, I'm doing this because I want to, not because someone or something made me to."  You spoke each sentence with stalwart conviction.  Mink stayed silent as if gauging the truth to your words.  The atmosphere between them grew thick with tension.  The crowd watched on with growing unease.

A moment into the battle of wills, Mink relented with a sigh.

"Even after all this time, you’re still the same naive fool," he said.  "But I admit, your resolve is admirable."  He turned around and began to walk away.  "Do as you like. I’m going inside."

It was then your turn to sigh, but from relief.  You let your body relax though crestfallen by the older man’s attitude toward you.

"Hey now, it’s okay," said Yuzawa as he and the others watched their leader leave.  “The boss can be cranky and abrasive sometimes, but he’s an overall okay guy.  Besides, you're really helping us out a lot.  You know, when we busted out, some of us tried to start out lives over.  But thanks to our criminal records, it was next to impossible.  And well… we had to survive somehow.” 

"He’s right, and at least you didn't get hit," chimed Takemoto.  "Mink is usually ruthless to those who dare to challenge or defy him, but you got off scot-free.  That's never happened before."

You perked up a bit at their encouraging words.  "Heheh.  Thanks, guys.  To be honest, I didn't think things would take a philosophical turn like that," you said with a sheepish grin.

"That small speech of yours was quite deep though.  I didn't think you had it in you," quipped Merlin from his place on the motorbike handlebars.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment.  Now..." You patted the box next to you.  "Who's up first?"

* * *

 

The stars had appeared up in the sky by the time you had to bid the guys farewell and mounted your motorbike to go home.

"Wait!" Takemoto's voice called out to you.  "We need to warn you about something."  He jogged towards you with Yuzawa in tow.

"What is it, Mr. Takemoto?" you asked.

"First thing's first, do you know about Rhyme?"

Rhyme was an avatar-type online fighting game with immense popularity in Midorijima. It was known to everyone who owned an AllMate (though mostly young people).  Players participate by connecting their consciousnesses and engaging each other in battle in a mental arena that feels real.  A winner gets decided when one player reduces their opponent's durability to zero.  The time and venue for the battles are completely random and go unannounced so players began to use dopesters to predict when and where a battle will take place.

"Rhyme? Yeah, I know of it.  What about it?"

"Well, you know a typical session begins when Usui appears somewhere to host and referee it, right?" asked Yuzawa.  "Lately, there's been talk around the other districts about random Rhyme sessions happening out of nowhere without Usui around.  Apparently, it's possible to play even without her."

"Yeah. I heard that those sessions are even more random and come at anytime and so suddenly that it's easy to get caught off guard, it's kinda like a Drive-by," said Takemoto. "Although it's been happening more often at night according to the rumors."

"You best be careful going home tonight, [Nickname].  People say that once you get caught in a 'Drive-by', you can't escape unless you either win or loose. And all the rules are basically out the window without Usui, so it can get pretty dangerous.  The opponent's crazy strong too," said Yuzawa.

"I see," you replied, eyebrows furrowing.  "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."  You turned the ignition, revving your motorbike to life.  "See you all next time!"

"Bye~!" Everyone waved as they watched you leave.

* * *

 

"What do you think, Merlin?" You asked your AllMate as you sped along the road. "What's your take on those rumors?"

"I can't really say," said the snowy owl, "Rumors are stories with dubious basis in truth, after all. Nonetheless, would you like me to confirm them?"

"Please do."

"Understood."  Several internet windows began to open and close before Merlin's large owl eyes at rapid pace.  "Hmm.... Odd, nothing's coming up. Those rumors must still be fresh."

"Then I guess, we'll have to take the guys' advice," you said.  "Merlin, what do you suggest?" Said owl opened a GPS application in response.

"For now, I suggest going through populous areas like Aoyagi Street and avoid empty ones.  Hopefully whoever is initiating the Drive-By’s are smart enough not to do so in a crowd," he said.

"Thanks." Your answer came nearly as soft as a whisper.

The best way to get around the Old Residential District is by foot.  The transportation system is abysmal and roads get blocked often.  There’s a big street running through the center of the city.  Sometimes there's a bus or train, or even a taxi.  But they can also be canceled or delayed without any notice, so they're not really reliable. The roads might be blocked at any time too, so nobody trusts public transportation.  Even now there are hardly any cars on the street.  There's only one taxi waiting in vain and some junked cars parked by the roadside.  The sidewalk is filled with people coming and going.  The most reliable thing one could have are their own legs.  Or if they're lucky enough to get one, their own vehicle.

Aoyagi Street was a wide expanse of road that served as a divider for the four parts of the Old Residential District.  On Aoyagi Street, there are a lot of stores where one can get common goods at cheap prices. In contrast, there are many maniac hobby stores in the back streets.  You once walked into one of those stores by accident; the mere memory of it still made you cringe to this day.

Neon lights sparked to life in shops everywhere once night has fallen.  Because illegal construction isn't regulated, the sky in the Old Residential District is covered with the shadows of distorted buildings, making it dark even during the day.  At the same time, groups that almost seem that they were in hiding until then come out.  'Ribsteeze' groups gather too, giving night time a different vibe from daytime.  Those who participate in Ribsteeze, called Ribsters, are Old Residential District residents to team up and fight other teams in turf wars by themselves.  Ever since Rhyme became popular, Ribsters have been at odds with Rhymers.  Ribsters tend to look down on Rhymers, claiming them as 'big-headed wise guys who live in their own fantasy worlds.'  Though there have been Ribsters switching over to Rhyme, the quarrels between the two groups have gotten worse.

"[Name], I see a shortcut coming up.  Once you pass the light, turn right at the third alleyway," Merlin chimed.

"Right," you replied and followed your AllMate's direction as memories of your first and last Rhyme battle began to surface.  You remembered an arrogant man with blue hair, another man garbed in a black mantle engaging with Merlin on a one-on-one, a shining sphere, a bright golden light...

The shortcut Merlin had mentioned earlier wasn't far.  While you advanced through the lively atmosphere and into the dark wide alley, you spotted a few punks loitering in the middle of the road.  You slowed to a stop.

"Excuse me," you called out to them, but they didn't seem to hear you.  You tried again, a little louder. "Excuse me, gentlemen."  You gained the punks' attention and they turn their heads turn to your direction.

"Would you be so kind as to make way? I'm kind of in a hurry."  The punks stood up and sauntered their way to you whilst leering with their hands in their pockets.

"Well, look at what we've got here," said one of them with dyed green hair darker then Mr. Yuzawa's.  "That's a nice set of wheels you got there, sweet cheeks," he put one hand on the space between the handlebars and leaned forward to your face.  "Mind if we borrow it for a bit?"

"Erm..." You leaned back, feeling utterly uncomfortable by the closeness.  Your AllMate bristled on his place on the top of the sidecar backseat.

"And while we're at it," said another with red hair, getting a little too close to your personal space for your liking and taking hold of your chin to turn your face to look at him.  "What do you say we get to know each other better? Of course, by 'we' I mean, me and the boys."  He let out a chuckle with all the other punks following suit.  Your expression hardened and pushed Red's hand away with the backside of yours and took a sharp intake of breath.

"The boys and I," you said in a stern tone.

The punks were confused at the random statement.  "What?" asked Red.

"Your grammar was incorrect," you continued.  "You said 'me and the boys' when it should have been 'the boys and I'.  If you truly wish to impress me, you can start by fixing your manner of speech."

The punks stepped back, visibly offended by the derisive remark.  "Oi! What's with the attitude?" one asked.

"Yeah! Just who do you think you are?" another cried.

"All that talk about grammar... What are you, a schoolteacher?" Red grabbed your right wrist.  "How about 'the boys and I' teach 'you' a lesson? How about that? I fixed it.  Do I get a gold star now?"

"Unhand me, you cretin!" You tried to shake him off, but his grip was strong.

"Ooh, kitty's got claws," said Green. "I like that.  Sorry, toots, but you aren't in any position to demand anything.  Don't you know who we are?"

"I don't really give a rat's hindquarters..." You muttered.  Green pulled down the sleeve of his jacket and held his wrist proudly.  On it was a tattoo of a winking girl with large breasts in a swimsuit and high heels leaning over a giant pink bomb.  You made a face.  Who in the right mind would have something like 'that' carved on them?

"See this? We're Bug Bomb from Ribsteeze," said Green.  "Are you shaking in your boots yet?"

Ribsters, save for their leader, often mark themselves with their team's symbol as well as areas they deemed their territory.  You had heard of some teams, but Bug Bomb was a new one for you.

"I've seen better," you said.

The Bug Bomb punks looked angry.  "What did you say?" asked Red.

"I said I've seen better," you repeated.

"Is that so? What team are you on anyway?" asked Green, gritting his teeth.

"Me? None.  I have better things to do with my time."

The punks exchange glances and their lips slowly curl up into malicious smiles.

"Seriously? You're a 'no-mark'?" asked Red.

"No way!" cried Green.

In Rib, one can only get their team symbol tattooed on any part of their body once they join a team.  Those who don't get a tattoo are assumed not to do Rib.  That's why it's common that no-marks become targets of diversion for Ribsters.  There's no team that holds a grudge if you happen to kill a no-mark.  You didn't take the concept too well; in fact, it made your blood boil.

"If you're a no-mark, that means it's okay for us to mess you up!" You didn't like how happy Red sounded.

"It doesn't matter whether you’re a dude or a chick.  Although, if you agree to do something special for us, we might reconsider."  What Green implied was even worse.  Red tightened his grip on your wrist to the point that it began to hurt while Green advanced toward you with a predatory look on his face.

"Hey guys, wait a second," one of their teammates, one with wild blond hair, tugged on his jacket to get his attention.  He turned around, annoyed.

"What?!" Blondie flinched at the volume.

"I think we should just let [him/her] go," he said, his voice trembling with anxiety.

Red and Green couldn't believe what they just heard.  "Hah?!"

"Why should we? We've already gone this far!" said Red.

"And it's [his/her] own fault [he/she] wandered into our territory in the first place," Green added.

"Y-Yeah, but if we don't, we could get in serious trouble." Blondie pointed at the agitated Merlin.  "That AllMate? I've been looking at it for a while, and I-I think I've seen it before.  A sn-snowy owl with a sparkling purple scarf... It looks like the one that belonged to... to..."

"For the gods' sake! Spit it out!" Red yelled, his patience wearing thin.

"King Arthur!"

An unsettling silence fell upon the alleyway.  All the color seemed to have drained away from the Bug Bombs' faces who, stunned into silence by that one name.

"King Arthur? _The_ King Arthur?" asked Red, whose grip on your wrist has slackened enough for you to yank your hand back.  Red was too busy being baffled to notice.  Green turned to him with an incredulous look on his face.

“Oh come off it! King Arthur’s not real.  He’s just an urban legend!” he told Red.

“It’s true though,” said a fourth team member wearing a pink fedora.  “In case you forgot, our leader was among the first to encounter the knight in shining armor before he gained a name.  He’s the one all other Ribsteeze leaders warn their new members about, including us.”

“It’s said that King Arthur has a snowy owl Allmate that follows him everywhere,” said Red.  “It acts like a scout; searching ahead for any sign of trouble.  And if you spot it perched somewhere, then you can be sure that King Arthur is never far behind.”

The Bug Bombers turned their heads to look at Merlin, their faces turning pale with dread.  At that moment, the words of their leader echoed in their minds: _“If you should ever encounter King Arthur, you best run for the hills.  Nothing good would ever come from engaging with him; he’s in a totally different league from anyone I’ve traded punches with and never holds back.  So whatever you do, get away as quickly as you can.”_

They swallowed the growing lumps in their throats.

"I’m afraid this young [lord/lady] here is someone my king holds close to his heart, and thus he put me in charge of their guardianship," Merlin then spoke, standing proud and tall.  "Unless you want him to hear how you've been mishandling them, you might as well make way and allow us passage."

"Oh, um, o-of course!"

"Right away! Please accept our sincerest apology, King Arthur's [brother/sister], ma'am!"

The Bug Bombers stumbled all over themselves hopping on either side of the street and stood ramrod straight like a platoon of soldiers awaiting a procession.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?" asked Merlin.

"Thank you very much, kind sirs," you said in a sweet tone, revving your motorbike and cruised away.

"Thank you, [sir/ma'am]! Have a good night, [sir/ma'am]!" They replied in a military-like fashion complete with a salute.

* * *

 

Thankfully, the rest of the ride home went by without another hitch while you reveled in your little victory.  A few minutes later, the bakery and cafe began to come in sight.  You went straight to the backyard to put away your motorbike in the garage separate from the building and entered through the backdoor.  Harmony Delights’ base of operation was a classic block building with an upstairs quarters where you and your brother figure, Kay, lived.  It was neither too plain nor too gaudy, looking no different from any normal home save for the antique-looking furniture.

"Hey, Merlin. What time is it?" You asked while taking off your shoes.

"8: 42p.m," Merlin replied.  "You're an hour and forty-two minutes late for dinner."

"Dang! Those Bug Bomb guys really made me late," you groused. "I hope Kay wouldn’t be too sore about it."

You stepped inside the living room where you found said man sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"I'm home," you said, announcing your presence while you took off your hoodie and cap and dropped them unceremoniously on the couch next to the stoic man.

Kay turned to acknowledge you.  "Welcome back. You're a little late today," he said.  “I had the small ones prepare the table for you.”

"Thanks.  Also, I was late because I ran into a little pickle on the way back, but it wasn't too bad," you said with a huge toothy smile on your face, something that Merlin quickly to notice.

“Was it the kind of pickle that required ‘special attention’?” Kay asked before turning back to his book.

“Not really. In the end, it just resolved itself, so it wasn’t necessary.”  You let out a laugh that seemed a little forced.

“I see,” the elder man said, deciding not to press on.  "No further questions."  You simply shrugged your shoulders and headed toward the kitchen where a couple of miniature, child versions of Kay had just finished setting the table for a party of one.  Merlin had gone ahead and settled on the backrest of one of the empty chairs.  Both mini-Kays bowed the moment you entered.

“Good evening, [Sir/Lady] [Name],” they greeted in unison.

“Hello, boys,” you greeted back with a smile and proceeded to hug the living daylights out of them.  “Ooh, I’ll never get over how cute you guys are!” you squealed in utter delight.  “I just wanna eat you up every time I see you.”

Neither of the two small ones reacted to your ministrations.  They kept their silence along with the deadpan expressions on their faces.  You released them after the moment has been savored.

“Tsk! No reaction as usual,” you said, pouting.  “You guys are lucky to be so cute!” You pinched and pulled at their cheeks in a similar manner Mink did to you in your younger days, the small ones remained as stoic as ever.

You got up and washed your hands in the sink and picked out a pair of utensils from the shelf and sat down at the dining table.  Dinner for tonight was garlic fried rice, baked salmon, clear onion soup, and steamed vegetables.  All of them were arranged neatly around the empty dinner plate, ready to be served.

You took your seat and clasped your hands together.  "Good food, good meat, good Lord, let's eat!" You happily dug into the food, and hummed in approval.  Meals at home were always good.  It only made a lot of sense due to your trade.  The small ones stood by, watching in silence.

Halfway through your dinner, Merlin decided to speak up.

"Alright, spill it," he said.  “There’s something bothering you, isn’t there?” His partner swallowed the last bits of fish and rice before reaching for the soup.

"What are you talking about?" you asked.

"You were acting a little bit too cheery back there. It’s a bit out of character for you, and frankly had me feeling quite unsettled by it."

You stopped eating and looked crestfallen. "Oh, sorry Merlin.  Yeah, I remember that."  You stared down at the half finished soup in your bowl.

"I've been thinking a lot about those Drive-By's since we left the North District," you said. "The moment Rhyme was mentioned, for some reason, I can't shake the feeling that it's somehow my fault they're happening."

Merlin tilted his head to the side in curiosity.  "What makes you say that? You’ve only played once."

"Yeah, and do you remember how that turned out?" You asked, downing the soup in a few gulps and got started on the vegetables.

"Oh, yes, perfectly," he replied.  "We were victorious."

"Yeah, and we also sent a guy to the hospital.  Do you remember that part?"

It only happened four years ago, but for you, it seemed like it was just yesterday.  While out on a late night stroll, a woman with ten arms appeared on the alley you were passing through out of nowhere along with funky music and bright lights.  There was a shout, and before you knew it, a crowd had gathered, chanting "Usui!" over and over in their excitement.

You never had an interest in Rhyme.  However, once the ten-armed woman, Usui—the host and judge of the game—recognized one’s presence within the game field, they are automatically registered as a player.  You cursed your luck and carelessness for getting caught.

Around that moment, a young man known as Sly Blue appeared, scoffing and taunting you in front of the crowd.  When you refused to respond to his verbal jabs, he challenged you to a battle right on the spot.  The crowd went wild.  It wasn't everyday that Sly Blue personally challenged anyone.  Usually, it was other people who do the challenging.  People began placing their bets on who would emerge the victor.

You reluctantly accepted the challenge and Usui immediately created the battlefield and called for the match to start.  Sly Blue was crafty and aggressive, and his AllMate could pack a decent punch as well; together, they made a formidable team.  However, you and Merlin weren’t pushovers yourselves.

To make a long story short, you got a little too thrilled during the fight somewhere along the way and forgot that the whole thing was just a game, and not having an epic duel to the death.  In the end, you wound up drawing your most powerful trump card and delivered a direct critical hit on Sly Blue.  Even with the restrictions in Rhyme that reduced the pain players felt to a minimum, the pain dealt by the blow was great enough to make the ever confident Sly Blue scream.  The sound of his tortured wails instantly snapped you back to your senses.  Filled with horror and great remorse for what you had done, you whisked him and his AllMate away from the crowd and took him to the hospital as quick as you could.

From then on, you avoided Rhyme altogether and took extra caution when out on streets at night so as to not get dragged in and hurt somebody again.

* * *

 

“He’s probably fully recovered and forgiven you after all these years,” assured Merlin as you gathered all the empty dishes and handed them over to the small ones to be washed.

“I don’t think it’s that easy, Merlin. Rhyme or not, I almost killed the guy,” you said.  Your heart grew heavy with guilt every time you remembered that day.  “I still can't believe I let myself go crazy like that. And for what? To win a silly cyber game?!” Merlin flew to perch on your shoulder as you left the dining room.  "He definitely hates me to this day, I just know it."  Your passed by Kay who was still engrossed with his show and went up the stairs toward the rooftop level of the building.

"If you intend to go out tonight, you ought to be more careful.  There have been more 'Broken Ones' turning up, so to speak," he chimed without looking away from his book.

You stop.  You had heard about the Broken Ones—as you and your household had come to call them—only recently.  People would disappear for days on end.  Though some of them somehow manage to return, they weren't the same people they once were.  It was as if their minds have been broken, leaving them as mere shadows of who they once were.

"Is it safe to assume that your plant friends told you that? You rarely ever go out of this building."

"Indeed.  It was, in fact, during my rare trips to the market that I heard of it.  The potted flowers and plants around people's homes and on display at the florist's shop are quite fond of gossip," Kay answered.  Leave it to a 'treant' to keep up with the happenings of the city by talking to other plantlife.

A treant is basically a homunculus created using alchemy.  Unlike the regular homunculi that are made using animal based main components, treants are created by using a plant base such as mandrake roots (most likely due to their eerie resemblance to human beings) that have been harvested on a full moon.  A successful transmutation results in a humanoid (more or less), but with abnormal quirks like having leaves in place of hair on their heads and their inability to express and display emotions.  They are usually made as soldiers and guardians mainly due to their strength, durability, and incredible longevity.

You and Kay have been together as far as you can remember.  It was safe to say that he was the one who practically raised you for a good part of your life.

"Is there anything else you know about the disappearances?" asked Merlin.  "We don't want to be targets if we can help it."

"Yes," said Kay.  "All the victims have only one thing in common: they were all Ribsters... so I've heard.  Neither of you need not worry about anything."

"That's good.  I'm interested in Ribsteeze as I'm interested in Rhyme," you said.  "See you later, Kay!" You moved on and left.

The treant listened as his ward’s footsteps grew fainter as they climbed up the stairs.  The moment it became quiet, closed his book and put it away with the others on top of the fireplace mantle.  It was time for lights-out.

* * *

 

The rooftop level of the building you lived in led to a vibrant green garden as opposed to the empty concrete spaces in other buildings.  It was made mostly to accommodate Kay's needs as a sentient walking tree.  A few meters were added to the original structure and filled in with soil, made green with grass, and fitted with sturdy wooden fences on all sides.  There was a patch on the corner left side for growing vegetables, and another on the right for berries.  Next to the berry patch was a crate where the gardening tools were kept and next to that, three bags of fertilizer lied in a stack.

You casually leaned on the fence, enjoying the view of the city lights and the bustling nightlife.  "Well Merlin, going by what Kay said, it sounds like we have our work cut out for us," you said.

"True," said Merlin.  "It appears that whoever is responsible for the disappearing people and creating Broken Ones are becoming more active these days."  You slowly pushed yourself away from the fence and began to walk backwards.

"Isn't is strange that nothing has been done about it?" you asked.

"It is, but so far, only those in Rib have been targeted," Merlin replied.  "The rumor may only be circulating within Ribsteeze teams, so the general public may not be well aware that it's been happening."

"But surely those Rib guys have family and friends who might notice if anything was amiss and report it to the police."

"That may be, but knowing how the police are on this island, I doubt they'd be of any help."

"Do you think the perpetrators are on to us?" You stopped a couple steps short of the door leading back inside.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were."

"Okay."  You planted your feet firmly on the ground and took a deep breath.  "Time to go."

You took off running straight ahead, jumping half of the way and onto the fence only to kick off from there to launch yourself high and forward.  Gusts of wind began to gather and whirl around you as you unleashed your innate hidden power.  In a quick flash of light, the plain-looking owner, table busser, and delivery [boy/girl] of Harmony Delights Bakery and Cafe was gone, and in their place was none other than the (in)famous(?) knight-in-shining armor of Midorijima; also known as King Arthur.

You rode the wind towards the city down below.  It was time for your other ‘volunteer work’.


	2. 002. Link_Worm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Merlin find a Broken One during your patrol and proceed to help.
> 
> Edit: Added and additional scene.

 As King Arthur—the armor-clad [hero/heroine] of Midorijima, landed on top of the roof of a random building with a thundering whump.  With Merlin taking the lead, you began to take the rooftop express to begin your nightly patrols while heeding your AllMate's advice and kept clear of the dark streets.

Meanwhile, inside the aforementioned building, a certain old man with square glasses, blue overalls, and a cap took note of some dust falling from the ceiling.  He didn't seem to have been startled in any way by the ruckus that had just occurred.

"Oh my," he said.  "That thunder sure was loud.  There must be a storm brewing."  He went to rummage in a big box.  "Now where did I put that umbrella?"

* * *

 

At a narrow dimly lit street, two young women were on their way home from a wild exciting night at a club; though it was more like one girl was walking while holding her friend’s arm around her shoulder and supported her back as the latter dragged her feet on the ground, being too drunk to walk properly.

“Seriously, you have no idea how lucky you are to have me right now,” the sober of the two, a dark skinned girl with bright sunny blonde hair. “I like drinking as much as the next guy, but at least I’m careful not of overdo it.”

“Whoohoo! Partyyyy!” cried her friend who hiccuped and pumped a fist in the air. She was another girl with pale skin and brown hair with a couple of thick sea green streaks. Her eyes were droopy and her face was flushed in her drunken stupor.

“Yeah, yeah. Pipe down though. You’ll wake the neighbors,” the sober one chided.

“Ha ha, o-okaaay...” the drunk one replied languidly before the alcohol-induced sleepiness started to kick in. The sober girl noticed the shift in weight immediately as her friend’s body grew limp and almost took both of them slumping onto the ground.

“Ugh, don’t tell me...” Looking at her drunken friend closely, the sober girl found that she has indeed fallen asleep.

“Oh, come on!” she cried in exasperation. The sober girl stood back up and began to pull up her friend along.

“Goddammit! Wake up, you drunk cow! No way I’m hauling your ass all the way up three flights of stairs to your apartment!” The sober girl struggled to pick up her friend’s prone body. So busy she was that she failed to notice a few figures step up from behind.

“Hey, beautiful,” said one of the figures in a sleazy manner, “You look like you could use some help.” The sober girl turned to see five shady men standing a couple of feet away, leering at both her and her friend. The speaker—who appeared to also be the leader of the ragtag group—sported a brightly colored mohawk and had a face full of piercings. And judging by the look of them, their idea of helping and _her_ idea of helping weren’t quite the same.

“No, thanks,” she said with a scowl on her face as she stood up after securing her friend’s arm around her shoulder once more. “It’s late and we just want to go home.”

“You sure?” Mohawk Guy said. “Come one now. The night is still young. What do you say you and your ladyfriend go out and have a little more fun with us?”

The sober girl let out an offended squawk, knowing full well what he meant to be implying.

“Pigs! All of you!” She huffed and began to briskly walk away with her friend in tow. “Why don’t you take a hike and leave us alone?”

Mohawk Guy clicked his tongue in annoyance, not pleased with the answer. He marched over to the girls and grabbed the sober one by her arm.

“Hey!” she cried in alarm.

“We’re not done here yet,” he said. “And here I was trying to be nice. If you’re gonna a be a bitch, then I guess we’’re gonna have to treat you like one.” He turned to his lackeys.

“What do you say boys?” he asked. “You wanna rough her up a bit? Or do you wanna have a go at the other one? It doesn’t look like you’ll have any problems with her any time soon.”

“I don’t see why not,” said Lackey A.

“That other bitch looks so plastered though, I doubt she’ll even feel anything,” said Lackey B.

“I don’t really care as long as I get some action,” said Lackey C. They then went to surround the two girls, staring at them in a predatory manner.

The sober girl struggled to break free of the hold on her but to no avail. “Y-You won’t get away with this!”

Mohawk Guy flashed a creepy smirk. “You ain’t exactly in any position to threaten us, miss. Whatcha gonna do? Throw your shitfaced pal at us?” The rest of the lackeys laughed alongside him.

“Target located,” an unfamiliar voice made itself heard through the din, cutting the mirthful moment short.

“Who was—” A punch to the face cut the mohawk stranger mid-sentence causing him to release his captive as he got sent flying back a couple of feet.

“What the hell?!” One of the lackeys cried at the abrupt turn of events. All the others turned to see who had dealt the blow to their leader and let out a collective gasp at the very sight of you, the hero King Arthur, with your AllMate flying down from above and perched on an outstretched arm, standing in the circle between them and the girls.

“How about you listen to the lady and leave her and her friend alone?” Merlin said. At that, they realized that the voice from before belonged to him.

The lackeys trembled at the sight of you. “Oh no. This ain’t good,” Lackey D said.

“I didn’t think he was real!” said Lackey B. They slowly began to back away in fear. Meanwhile, Mohawk Guy managed to get back on his feet as he rubbed his bleeding broken nose.

“What the hell are you morons sniveling about?” he asked, utterly livid.

“Boss, King Arthur’s here,” Lackey A answered. “Let’s just run. There’s no way we’re a match for him.”

“You cowardly idiot!” Mohawk yelled. “So what if he is? There’s still five of us and only one of him! I say we dogpile the motherfucker!”

Mohawk Guy’s lackeys changed their countenances all at once upon realizing the logic behind their leader’s announcement. They went from nervous to determined in a matter of seconds. Now, rather than backing away, they began to move closer to you, looking quite menacing.

You turned to glance at the girls still lingering behind you. “Here comes the part where it all starts to get ugly,” you said. “It would be best for you and your friend to get away from here as soon as you can.”

The sober girl nodded in acknowledgment and turned to run, but she hasn’t even made a few steps when a lackey blocked her path.

“Where do you think you’re going, toots? The party’s just getting started,” he said. “Once we’re done with that tin-can-wearing nerd, you and I are gonna make sweet music toge—Argh!”

The lackey screamed a string of profanities when Merlin got his talons scratching his face ruthlessly. He swung and flailed his arms around, trying to catch the AllMate, but Merlin proved too swift for him. Without wasting time, the sober girl took the chance to run. Merlin stopped his assault the moment she got far enough.

“Merlin, follow the girls. Make sure nothing happens to them,” you then told him. His answer was a shout of “Good luck!” before taking off to follow your orders.

Around that same moment, all the other goons jumped at you one by one, shouting their war cries. You managed to block and sidestep their attacks and hit them back with nary any effort. Though Mohawk Guy caught you from behind and delivered a mighty roundhouse kick to the small of your back, making you lurch a little. You gotta admit, that wasn’t half bad. Not a lot of ruffians you’ve faced managed to get ahead of you like he did.

“Ha! How’d you like that!” Mohawk Guy said with a near face-splitting smile. “I guess the mighty King Arthur ain’t so tough as the… the… r-rumors… sa...saaay...” His face slowly began to contort into what appeared to be a pained expression as he finished speaking. His confused lackeys temporarily turned their focus away from you to see what had got to their leader all of a sudden.

“Boss? You okay?” asked Lackey C. Mohawk Guy’s face was flushed red, moist with sweat and tears were welling up in his eyes that threatened to fall. It made him seem comically constipated. Though in truth, he was struggling in his desperate effort to hold his voice in.

“Ugh… Uuuhh… Aaaaaah...” The dam was beginning to crack.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!” Well, that didn’t last long. Mohawk Guy went down rolling around on the ground as he screamed at the top of his lungs, clutching the throbbing leg he kicked you with. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Goddammit! Motherfucking shit! FUCK!”

“Boss!” The lackey’s immediately swarmed their leader in concern. They took turns asking what was wrong, but Mohawk Guy couldn’t hear them because of his own screams.

As they fussed over the fallen man, a lackey turned to you, visibly upset. “What the hell did you do to him?” he asked.

His question had you taken aback due to what had transpired not long ago, still, you maintained your composure and replied. “I assure you never laid a hand on him. His pain is his own folly; he should have known better than to attack someone in a suit of armor whilst lacking in proper arms or protection.”

“Bullshit!” the lackey retorted, his judgment clouded by anger. “You’ll pay for this!” He called the others over. “Come on, gang. Let’s show this punkass what happens when they mess with the Boss!”

The rest of the lackeys left their leader’s side and stood by each other as if to form a wall between you and Mohawk Guy. All of them were rearing to fight for revenge.

“Get him!” The lackeys lunged toward you all at once. You rolled your eyes and decided to end the senseless fight quickly by focusing and channeling your magic to summon a gale that swept them away from you. They land with a series of thuds from their bodies hitting the ground near their leader, the force of impact putting them all in a daze. While it was of utmost importance that you keep your magical ability totally hidden from mundane eyes, casting one or two minor spells in rare instances never hurt anyone (not too bad anyway); especially if it was all in the name of justice.

The last thing they saw was your fist just before it collided with their faces as you knocked them out one by one with a single punch each.

With that business done and over with, you collected the goons’ prone bodies and propped them up in a row next to a dumpster in an alley close by. You hoped that at least by tomorrow, they’ll wake up and realized their error and refrain from repeating it if ever.

“I-Is it over?” You turned around to find the sober girl from before peeking at you from behind the corner. You could see Merlin on a tree branch a little ways off.

“You came back?” you asked. You’d thought she had gone straight home after you told her to run.

“Um, after I left, I got worried for you,” she said, her face taking on a rosy tinge. Whether it was out of shame or something else, you couldn’t tell. “I decided to hide halfway along so I could call for help in case you couldn’t handle those guys. Although you obviously didn’t need any from the way you handled them.”

“I see,” you said. “Even so, let me express my gratitude nonetheless. It was very thoughtful of you. Though next time, I strongly advise that you keep running when prompted to do so as I can’t always guarantee your safety should you remain while in the middle of a confrontation.”

“Oh, right,” the sober girl said, eyes downcast while sheepishly twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “Sorry.”

“That’s quite alright. All that matters is that you and your friend are safe,” you said. Your statement seemed to lift her spirits back up a little. “Is there something else you need before I go?”

“Um, well… After that has happened earlier, I’m kind of scared to go on alone,” she replied. “If it’s okay, could you come along with me? It’s just until we get to the apartment.”

There was no need to think about the answer. “Of course, miss.” You held one arm diagonally across your front, almost touching your shoulder while having the other settled at your back. You then bent your torso forward in a nobleman’s bow. “I my honor as King Arthur, I will be more than glad to escort you and your friend safely to your home.”

The sober girl’s whole face became as red as a tomato at your display of chivalry. “Oh, wow… Y-You don’t have to be so formal! Jeez!” You merely chuckled in amusement. Not a moment later, you noticed something a bit odd about the girl you saved.

“By the way, where is your friend? Wasn’t she with you?” you asked.

“Oh, I put her down over there.” The sober girl pointed to the drunken girl sitting on the sidewalk against the wall, still very much asleep. “Having to lug her weight around got very tiring so I put her down there for the time being. I still can’t believe she slept through all that ruckus. Whatever she had must’ve been stronger than what I had.”

“So I see,” you said in acknowledgment. “If I may, I can carry your friend as to ease your burden.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to impose any more than necessary,” the sober girl asked shyly while watching you pick up her friend in your arms in a princess carry.

“It’s no trouble at all. What truly matters from now on is that you’re both home safe and sound,” you said. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

“O-Okay!” The sober girl went ahead to lead the way with you not far behind and Merlin following overhead.

A few minutes later, you and the sober girl made it to a tall apartment complex in the West Residential District. She led you up the third floor and to a door at the end of the open hallway.

“Well, this is my stop,” she said. “I can take her from here.” With her help, you set her friend in her arms once again. “Thanks for all your help.”

“’’Twas my pleasure,” you said in kind. “I would advise to have your friend drink plenty of water as soon as possible to help ease her inevitable hangover. I would also suggest avoiding too much and too strong of any drink, and make sure to have more friends walking home with you—solidarity in numbers and all.”

“Of course.”

“Well then, if there isn’t anything else, I shall take my leave.” You bowed once more and turned to leave. The sober girl’s blushed for the third time that night as she watched you go back the way you came.

A fairly strong breeze blew through the hall, sending hair to her face, thus obscuring her sight. By the time she had shaken them away, the knight-in-shining armor had already vanished.

“Huh,” she muttered in contemplation. “I wonder what he looks like under that helmet...”

* * *

 

You and Merlin resumed your patrols immediately after seeing the girls home.

"See anything yet, Merlin?" You asked your AllMate with your voice an octave lower due to the helmet that concealed your identity as you hopped from building to building without breaking a sweat with the help of your wind magic.

"Not quite yet," Merlin answered as he flew a couple of feet ahead.  "It appears that the usual thugs and petty criminals are either on their best behavior tonight, or have gone into hiding. I barely see any—oh!"

"What is it?"

"This way!" Merlin took a dive to the right toward a narrow alley.  He landed in front of an odd heap on the ground with you not far behind.

"What did you find, Merlin?" you asked, moving closer to get a better look.

It turned out that the odd heap was a person in a black hooded jacket sitting against the wall.  They didn't seem to notice either you or Merlin despite the two of you standing right in front of them. You got down on one knee and took hold of the person by the chin to see their face.

The person appeared to be male, probably around early twenties.  He didn't seem to have any remarkable features on him.  However, it seemed that he was locked in a state of shock—his eyes were opened wide, his pupils dilated, and void of any living spark as they stared past you rather than on you.  His mouth was agape with some stray drool trickling out of a corner.

"A Broken One," you said.  "This is the fourth one this week.  What do you think it means?"

"I'm afraid I don't know,"replied Merlin.  "By the frequency of the Broken Ones appearing, I can only guess that the perpetrators may be taunting us.  This could be their way of telling us that they won't stop taking more victims no matter how many we manage to save."

You pursed your lips from under your helmet.  "And since we have no idea who they are and where they could be hiding, they'll just keep on getting away with it."  You let out an exasperated sigh.  "This stinks.  Just what exactly to they hope to accomplish by taking people and messing with their minds?"

Merlin didn't have an answer.

You released the man's chin and turned to your AllMate.  "I guess find the answers some other time. For now, let's help this one."

Merlin nodded in reply.  "Right."  He flew up and in circles around you and the Broken One, spreading glowing green motes of light in his wake that formed into a runic circle the moment they landed. A brief flash signified its completion.

"Concealment barrier construction is complete," said Merlin in confirmation.  A concealment barrier basically renders anything within it invisible to the naked eye.  Anyone who'll pass by the alley you were in wouldn't notice anything and will just keep moving.  It was a perfect cover for a mage who needed to use their power in a public place.

"Thanks, great job as always," you said in appreciation.  "And as always... This is going to require a personal touch."  You dismiss your helmet via a quick vanishing spell to expose your face.  At that same moment, you closed your eyes and concentrated to gather mana until your body was emitting a soft blue glow.  You knelt down close to the Broken One, holding him by the shoulder with one hand for support while with the other you smoothed the hair away from your forehead and did the same to him.

"Wish me luck, Merlin," you muttered, closing your eyes and pressing your forehead against his.

* * *

 

You felt a strong pull followed by falling sensation once you made contact as you linked with the Broken One's mind.

You soon found yourself in an empty courtyard of what appeared to be a hallway of a school.  However, something felt off about the place.  The atmosphere of the surroundings was oppressive, dark and gloomy.  Everywhere you looked, there were shadows shaped like children scattered around.  They didn't have faces, rather they had white hollow eyes and slimy mouths wriggling with joyful giggles; the sounds of which pervaded all around you.  The presence of shadowed figures within the distorted minds of the Broken Ones were awfully unsettling during the first few dives you made, but you soon got acclimated the more often you did it.  The atmosphere was also the same in every mind you had dived into.  The only thing different was the environments you found yourself in.  Without wasting time, you got yourself moving.

The sound of children's laughter began to echo after a few moments.  It started out small, but began to grow louder as seconds passed.  Not long after, the laughter gave way to words.

" _Weak!"_   The word itself manifested as glowing text floating in mid-air.

_"Stupid!"_   A second word follows immediately after.

_"Loser!"_

More words began to appear all over the place the further you walked.  Each one as mean-spirited as the last, pouring down from the mouths of the shadows.  There was no question that was walking through a childhood memory, and an awful one at that. It was a thing among the Broken Ones to have their biggest fears, nightmares, and insecurities at the forefront of their minds, trapping them in their own heads.

You walked on.  It was nothing new to you.  If you were less experienced, there would be no way for you to keep a straight face.

_"Crybaby!"_

_"Oh my gosh, what a dork!_

_"So annoying..."_

_"You're such a waste of space!"_

Walking through someone else's memories can be overwhelming, but it was the only way to help someone whose mind had been tampered with.  You had only one mission during a mind-meld session—to find the source of damage or taint, and try to fix it.

Soon, you could make out a figure walking ahead of you through the dimly lit halls.  It must be the victim! You quickened your pace to a jog to catch up.

"Hey!" you called out, hoping to catch their attention.  The young man, or rather, young boy, stopped and turned around at the sound of your voice.  However, rather than relief, he became overcome with fear.

"Stay back! Leave me alone!" he yelled.  He then turned around and ran out the double doors at the end of the hall.  You followed after him, but the moment you opened the doors, you received a face full of rapid-flying hurtful words being blown at you and the sounds of jeering became a deafening cacophony.  You struggled your way through the awful whirlwind and noise while keeping a look out for the boy, but the swirling horde of words made it difficult to see past.

"If you can hear my voice," you called out through the din.  "Please answer me! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Go away!" The boy replied, his voice trumping over the rest.  So he had heard her.

You tried again.  "It's alright! I'm nothing like the others! Tell me, where can I find you?"

"No! You're lying!" This job wasn't going to be easy like you thought.

"Please, I know you're hurting! All I really want is to help! So please, just hear me out! I promise not to hurt you!" The whirlwind and the voices abruptly stopped, and you found yourself in the back alleys of the Old Residential District.  The hateful words floated around aimlessly in the air.

"I... wasn't exactly a popular person," said a quivering voice.  You turned and found the very young man you were trying to help sitting on the hard concrete ground.  He held his knees close to his body and had his gaze focused downward.  Shackles could be seen fastened around his wrists and ankles with lengthy chains wrapping around his body and spread out in a few directions that seemed to go on forever.

"I was never the smartest, strongest, the wealthiest, or most likable even as a kid.  I preferred to keep to myself and stay out of trouble whenever possible.  But for some reason, trouble seemed to find me whether I wanted to or not," he went on.  Though sympathetic, you decided to simply keep listening in the meantime.  In moments like this, it was best to just lend an ear for another's troubles.

_"Scum!"_

_"You're so lame..."_

_"Why don't you just go jump in a ditch and die?"_

Full sentences appeared one by one alongside the words, but unlike the previous ones you have seen, these ones appeared three-dimensional, solid, and were tethered to chains that wrapped themselves around the young man, thus adding to the ones he already had.

"I haven't the slightest clue what I did to make them hate me.  I always made sure to avoid everybody and not cause them any wrongdoing, yet they saw it fit to pick on me.  It kept on going even as I got older and the teasing and bullying became worse.  There was a time I tried to change myself, but..."

_"Ugh! Look at him."_

_"He's obviously just begging for attention."_

_"You look disgusting!"_

_"Nobody likes you!"_

_"Go kill yourself!"_

More words and sentences came, and with them, more chains.  So many had wrapped around his body that only his head and feet could be seen.

"When Ribsteeze took off, I decided that it was my chance to become stronger.  I thought that if I everyone knew I did Rib, they would finally stop picking on me; so I joined one. They called themselves Morphine."

"Morphine?" You muttered.  You heard that name before through the grapevine a few times, but dismissed it due to the dubious nature of their existence.  Was Morphine the cause of the disappearances? For the Broken Ones?

"I didn’t care about anything else.  I was just glad they let me join.  Soon, word got out and everyone thought twice before saying anything. It was great!" The corners of his lips went up in a faint weak smile.

But that smile only lasted for a brief second.  "However, it turns out... that..."

The young man rapidly raised his head to face you, his expression warped into terror.  "I have made a huge mistake!"

His cry had the alarm bells in your mind ringing—things were about to get ugly.  You stepped up to act, but stopped in your tracks at the sound of rolling thunder.  Setting your sights above, you saw that the sky had become overcast with heavy dark clouds.  It then began to rain. In curiosity, you held your palm up to catch a few drops.

Instead of clear water, drops of black viscous substance plopped onto your hand.  A quick close inspection revealed that the substance was none other than _tar_.

"Oh no..." Things were definitely about to go bad.  The raining tar was a horrid sign that the victim was beginning to get overwhelmed by their despair.  If nothing is done soon, the young man would drown in it and would be beyond saving.

"Morphine... It wasn't what I thought it was..." he said to you as the tar covered the ground and started to pool.  "Morphine is..."  The young man winced as the chains tightened around his body, knocking the air out of his lungs.  The other hurtful words that had been floating lazily before, turned solid like their new counterparts and became tethered with even more chains that began to pull and squeeze at the poor victim and kept him from saying any more.  You took off again the moment his face started turning blue, drawing your longsword along the way.

"Hold on!" you cried as you hacked away at the chains with the tar rain becoming heavier.  Your movements being slowed down by the sticky black substance.

"He… Help!"

Cutting the chains was an easy enough feat.  They came apart with every swing of the sword as though made of butter.  However, getting them to stay cut was the challenge—the cut ends would come to life after a couple of moments to join back together again.  The tar certainly didn't help once it was past your ankles.  You couldn't afford to waste time. In order to save the young man's sanity, it was necessary to find the source of his despair and destroy it before it destroys not just his mind, but yours as well. Mind-melding magic was risky for both the user and the subject no matter how temporary.  Should you fail in your mission, both the young man's mind and yours would be lost.  And even if recovery were possible, the process would take an enormous amount of time and effort; even then, there was no absolute guarantee of going back to normal.

You turned your gaze to the chained words.  Of course, the answer was already in front of you.  You took your longsword in both hands and charged it with your mana.  The blade took on a soft blue glow.  You then stood your ground with legs and feet apart to keep steady, twisting your torso back a little, and gave a mighty sideways swing, thus unleashing a burst of sharp enchanted wind toward the words.  Several loud and flashy explosions resounded in the air when attack hit its mark.  Bits and pieces fell on the still rising tar that had now reached three-quarters of the way to your knees, followed by the chains that became lifeless without anything to be tethered to.  You waited a moment for either the words or chains to regenerate and recover just in case.  You smiled in satisfaction when nothing happened after a moment.  Whew! It was off to a good start.

You didn't waste time in destroying the rest until none remained.  Midorijima's [hero/heroine] was left panting in the end—there had been so much.  The level of tar had already reached the base of your thigh and the young man's chest, and was still steadily creeping up, but it was okay.  The source of despair has been destroyed.  Everything should clear out in a second or two...

or five...

or ten...

twenty...

forty...

sixty...

"This... isn't right.  The rain should have stopped by now."  Indeed, the tar rain continued to fall.  You turned to the young man who was still sniveling on his spot and still wrapped in chains.  It was another oddity.  The chains should have fallen off his body once you destroyed the floating words.  You put away your sword and struggled through the tar to go towards him.

"Hey, it's okay," you spoke to him with a soft kind voice.  "I said that I was going to save you, didn't I? That's exactly what I intend to do.  So please, have a little faith in me."  You took hold of some of the chains and tried to tug them loose.

"Who... are you?" the young man asked through his tears despite the pain.

"Think of me as a someone you could count on," you replied, "to get you out of here."

Although you were succeeding in loosening the chains, the tar was already creeping up to your thick of your thighs and to the young man's shoulders.  It was a desperate race against time.

"Please stop," said the young man, his face wearing the look of someone who had resigned to his fate.  "It's pointless to keep trying. If you do, you'll just drown along with me." There was a roll of thunder, and the tar rain grew a little bit stronger.  Still, you persisted.

"Don't go saying things like that," you said.  "You sound like you've already given up."

"I have. It's not like I've got anything to lose anyway.  The world has made it clear that it hates me and my existence.  My mother didn't want me and my father abandoned me.  I was always looked down upon for being poor, so I never had any friends.  After all, who'd want to be friends with someone as filthy and scummy as me?" The rain grew even stronger.

"That can't be true!" You cried out, snapping him out of his melancholy.  "Look, I don't know much about you other than what you've shown and told me.  I can't possibly imagine how agonizing it must have been for you to live the way you had.  But... surely, someone at some point in your life, must have cared about you once.  Can't you think of anyone?"

The tar rain let up a little as the young man pondered the question.  It was a relief for the armor-clad [hero/heroine], for it meant that you were getting through to him.

He sifted through his memories to find an answer to her question until his mind's eye came upon an image of of a young girl.

"Yeah..." The young man muttered. "There was... someone... from a long time ago..."  The rain stopped pouring.

The world then began to shift and warp as the dark and gloomy back alleys became a bright sunny playground.  The pool of tar dissolved into millions of dark motes and vanished along with the heavy chains.  The young man stood up, looking in awe at the new surroundings.

"This place... I remember this," he muttered.  Both you and him watched as the young man's scrawny younger self—around five or six—sat cowering and surrounded by bullies.

_"What's a filthy rat like you doing here?" asked one of them, who seemed to be the leader._

_"Yeah, you're not supposed to be here.  This isn't a place for people like you!" said another._

_"Yeah, go away! This is our playground!"_

_"Stop it! All of you!" A high pitched voice broke through the jeering.  All eyes turned to the side as a girl with long black hair in a powder blue dress came marching toward the commotion._

_"This playground is for everyone.  Why don't you leave and pick on someone your own size!" she said._

_"Oh yeah? And what if we don't? What're you going to do about it?" one of leader's followers challenged._

_The girl gave him a knowing smirk.  "That's easy.  Your mom works for my mom.  I'll just tell my mom what happened and she could tell yours."_

_The bullies leering smiles turned into frowns. "You wouldn't."_

_"I really would.  And don't even think to try and hurt me.  You already know what's gonna happen."  At that moment, the bullies knew they were cornered._

_The leader of the bullies huffed.  "Tch! Whatever.  I was starting to get bored anyway."  The leader turned and left along with his followers._

"I remember now," the young man said as the girl approached his child self.  "She was the first one to ever stand up for me.  It was so long ago that I forgot."

_The girl fished into her pockets and pulled out a partially smooshed chocolate bar.  "Here," she said.  "It's a little melted, but if you want it, it's yours."  The boy just stared at her, eyes wide and mouth agape, yet unable to form words._

_"What's the matter?' asked the girl in confusion after a moment of silence.  "You don't like chocolate?"_

_The boy struggled to find what to say.  "N-n-n-no, I... I-I do."  He gingerly took the chocolate from her. " Th-th-th-thanks."  The girl smiled, and moved to sit next to him._

"Can you recall her name?" You asked the older self.

"It's..."

_"Tomoko," the girl announced out of the blue._

_"What?" asked the boy, confused as he ate a bite of chocolate._

_"I said, my name is Tomoko."_

_"Oh."_

_"Now it's your turn.  What's your name?"_

_The boy swallowed. " Hirose..."_

"After that day, Tomoko just kept being with me," said the young man now known as Hirose with a fond look in his eyes.  "I guess you could say we were... friends."

"But then one day..."  The children vanished and got replaced by older pre-teen versions of themselves.

_"Hirose, there's something important I have to tell you," said Tomoko.  Hirose blushed, thinking it was one of times where a girl would confess her feelings to a boy she liked._

_"I'm... I'm leaving..." she went on.  "My dad got a promotion at his job, and it requires him to go to the capital.  Can you guess what that means?" She sniffed, wiping the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes._

_Hirose swallowed a lump in his throat.  "You're moving away?" he asked.  The news was far more dreadful than not receiving a love confession like he thought.  Tomoko could only nod in silence as she let her tears flow._

_"When?"_

_"Three days from now.  My mom already finished packing."_

_Hirose fell speechless. The only friend he ever had, and probably ever will have, was going to leave Midorijima.  He'll be all alone again.  He would be teased and bullied again, and this time there'd be no one there to save him._

_"I'm so sorry, Hirose!" Tomoko threw herself at him, bawling.  Not knowing what else to do or say, Hirose gingerly wrapped his arms around his best friend.  He held her tightly against him, afraid that she might disappear sooner._

"After that, we spent our last three days together the best we could.  It was the most fun I ever had," said the adult Hirose.  "I never saw her again after that.  Sometime after, I was back to being the bullies' favorite target.  It was hell ever since."  He gave a sad sigh, his shoulders drooping and his eyes downcast.  "I guess I've become a little to reliant on her to keep the bullies away.  Even after all she's been through for me, you'd think I might have learned a thing or two, but.. If she could see me now... Oh, gods! I'm such a pathetic coward!"

"Well, I'm not one to lie, but you're right," you said with a rather sheepish smile.  Hirose looked at you, rather surprised that you would agree to such a self-deprecating statement.  "For your entire life, you've let fear rule over you.  That all changed when Tomoko arrived and essentially became your best friend.  However, you've come to depend on her so much to fight your battles for you that you never learned how to do so yourself.  As a result, you were pulled back to the vicious cycle you previously suffered in once she left."

Hirose slumped down even more in his shame.

"But even so, that doesn't mean you can't try," you continued.  "Think about it for a moment, do you really want to live the rest of your life as a doormat? Picked on and humiliated by other people for the things you can't help? In the end, the only one who can ultimately save you is 'you'."

As you spoke, Hirose grew tense and slowly clenched his fists.

"I see," he said.  "You're right.  You're definitely right! I'm an adult now, for crying out loud! If Tomoko were to come back and sees that I haven't changed, she'd be really disappointed with me.  I-I can't let that happen!"

"There you go! That's the spirit!" You gave Hirose a proud slap on his back and made him stumble a little bit, but he could tell that it was all in good humor.  His lips curled into a small smile.  For the first time in a long while, Hirose felt happy and light; as if a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I'll... do my best from now on so I can change," he said. "So when Tomoko comes home to Midorijima, she'll see that I could be strong like her."

You returned his smile with your own.  "I'm sure she'd be proud."  Your mission was a success.  Soon you'd have to pull yourself back into your own mind so that yours could rest and in Hirose's case, sort itself out.  Casting a Mind-melding spell, along with maintaining your presence within another person’s mindscape often took a toll on you with every use.  You would probably only have enough energy left to discipline a few miscreants.

However, you couldn't shake the feeling that you were forgetting something—something important.

You gasped as the answer abruptly arrived.  The air had suddenly become heavy and an ominous feeling washed over you without any form of warning.  You knew that feeling well, having felt it more than a dozen times before since saving your first Broken One—it was evil dark magic.  A long time ago, when you were younger, you never thought there was such a thing as dark magic.  The only fellow mages you had met in your life were some members of Mink's village, and they all have been good people, and their magical aura felt so warm and kind.

It was also in that very village that you had your first taste of dark magic.  You felt it through the heat of the flames of the burning homes and screams of the villagers that made your skin crawl.  Its aura felt all kinds of unpleasant, and it induced a great crippling fear that pierced directly at your soul and left your paralyzed.  If it hadn't been for Kay and Merlin's timely intervention, you would have been caught and probably killed by the invaders who attacked the village.

You never thought that you would encounter it again in Midorijima.  So when it finally happened, you mentioned it to Kay and Merlin as soon as you got the chance.  They told you that it was most likely a 'curse' that was emitting the foul energy.  It became a common scenario that occurred by the time you had helped the victims deal with their personal demons that the curse had made prominent.  The deal with the particular curse that afflicted the Broken Ones was that it was akin to a parasite.  It fed off the negative emotions of its victims and retaliated with great vengeance when it felt threatened in any way.

"I knew it couldn't have been this easy," you muttered, scowling.

"W-What is... this feeling?" muttered a flustered Hirose.  His body trembled as the fear from the dark magical aura took hold.  He fell down to his knees as his legs became weak and gave out under him.  "W-Why am I s-so scared?"

The surroundings then began to shift around the fearful young man and the armored [hero/heroine].  The memory versions of him and Tomoko had vanished and the vibrant colorful playground had become dull and dilapidated to reflect his current state of mind.  You went to stand protectively in front of him, your sword held before you at ready. The source of the dark magic was approaching fast.

From out of the thick cloudy sky, a huge silver cross with a winged pink heart descended rapidly with a resounding crash.

"What's h-happening?" asked Hirose who turned to see the source of the noise, only to scream at the sight.  "Th-That symbol!" He scooted back a couple feet. "I-It's... Morphine!"

"What?!" You turned to him in astonishment.  You heard an echoing bang, and you snapped your attention back at the gargantuan monument.  Another bang followed a moment after, and another, and another, until a small crack appeared at the center of the glassy winged heart.  You and Hirose fell silent and watched with bated breath as a few more beating and cracking sounds came after.  The crack on the heart grew and spread each time.  It was as if there was something inside that was trying to break out.

"They're coming t-to get m-me!" Hirose cried, clutching both sides of his head.  The induced fear was starting to overwhelm him.  "I-I knew it! It was only a matter of time!"

"Get a hold of yourself," you said, your eyes never leaving the breaking symbol as the gaping cracks spanned the heart and began to ooze the black tar.  "Trust me, nothing is going to get you.  I won't allow it as long as I'm standing."  Upon reaching the ground and gathering into a large puddle, the tar convulsed, twisted, and writhed violently.  A part of it stretched from the rest of the dark mass, becoming hard and segmented.  Several spikes seemed to sprout on both the top and sides.  The first two spikes on top grew long and tapered to thin points while the next two curved inward and began snapping together like a pair of scissors.  The ones on the sides were more uniform, jointed, and spindly.  They flailed wildly as if to test how well they bent.  The rest of the tar followed quickly to form the coil that was the rest of its body.

You and Hirose winced at the loud echoing screech the monster—a giant black centipede—gave out as soon as it finished being born.  It cast its beady faceted eyes upon the tiny humans not far off, both of them too dumbfounded to move.

Then faster than anyone could blink, a gigantic black centipede lunged toward the two humans with its scissor-like mandibles spread wide.  Hirose screamed in terror.  You raised your sword using both hands to block its advance and to keep it from snapping at either of you.  The ground beneath your feet cracked at the strength of the blow.  You clenched your jaw as you struggled to push it away while it pushed back.  The monster was stronger than it looked.

"What the hell is that?!" Hirose cried as he scooted back a few feet with haste.

"Let's just say that this is the reason you were in this miserable situation in the first place," You answered through your teeth.  Then with a yell, you gathered your mana and let it burst forth with a bright flash of bluish-white light, stunning the creature.  The giant centipede reeled back with a startled shriek, allowing you to gain a bit of distance.

"You need to run! It's not safe here anymore," you told the young man behind her.

"B-But where do I go?" From its spot, the giant centipede recovered and let out another loud shriek in anger.

"Anywhere but here! Hurry!" Hirose didn't need to be told twice.  He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

The monster lunged once more, and you prepared to strike.  However, by some twist of fate, it passed you over, much to your astonishment.  Your eyes followed its movement only to widen in horror once you saw that it was going straight for Hirose!

"No!" Shining blue vein markings appeared over your greaves and sabatons as you channeled your mana into your legs, and took off like a rocket after the giant centipede.  It was adamant that you caught up with Hirose before the foul beast does.  Should the centipede catch him, he'd be torn apart and devoured.  You learned of that gruesome fact after a failed rescue of another Broken One in a recent past.  You were so distraught afterwards that you begged both Kay and Merlin through your tears for a way to bring the poor soul back, but they both shook their heads and said that it was already too late.  By devouring the victim’s mental avatar, the curse had destroyed the victim's mind so much that there was nothing that could be done even with magic.  A couple of days after you brought the victim to the hospital, you learned that was pronounced brain dead and passed away a little while later in their sleep.

There was no way you were going let anyone else fall to the same fate.  Not now, not ever. No matter what it took.

You pushed your reinforced legs further, using wind magic to bolster your speed.  The centipede was closing in quickly to the young man.  Hirose realized it as well when he saw its shadow beginning to appear in his peripheral vision.  He stole a glance behind him and began to panic.  The centipede had its mandibles spread out, showing a wide mouthful of knife-like teeth oozing with drool.  He tried to run faster, but a large stone jutting from the ground made him lose and balance and caused him to fall flat on his face.  The monstrous creature loomed over him.  He watched as the a large drop of its saliva fell and let out a loud sizzling noise the moment it hit the ground.  While every fiber of his being screamed at him to get up and resume running, Hirose was frozen with fear on the spot as it reared back and went straight for the kill.

WHAM!

A strong gust of wind slammed on to the centipede's right side, sending it away a several feet. It shook the ground as it landed with a resounding thud.  Without wasting any more time, you sped up to the prone creature and jumped onto its back and sprinted close to its head.  You directed mana into your sword then flipped it into a reverse grip.  And with both hands, you plunged the blade straight into the narrow space between the hard chitinous armor plates. The creature screeched and writhed in agonizing pain.  You held on tight, pouring more mana into the blade, making it sharper. Then with a bit of struggle, and a sharp tug to the side, the knight-in-shining armor successfully decapitated the monster.

The head went flying far and landed on a pile of rubble a mile away from Hirose.  Even while separated from its body, it continued to snap its jaws furiously.  But not long after, its movements began to slow down and then ceased completely.  You leapt of the monster and watched it dissolve into dust and vanish.  You then turned to Hirose, who remained seated on the ground since the battle unfolded.

"Are you alright?" you asked.  Hirose could only nod in response.  You could see that he was still in shock from what had transpired before his very eyes.  You relaxed your posture and softened your features before kneeling down to level with him.

"You don't have to worry anymore," you said reassuringly.  "The monster is gone. It won't be hurting you anymore."  At those words, Hirose allowed himself to relax, though he looked rather depressed.

"Thanks," he said, lacking any enthusiasm in his tone.

"Is something wrong?" you asked.

The young man sighed.  "Not that I'm not grateful or anything. It's just that, even after that promise I made to myself, I still acted like a coward back there.  I didn't even try to help.  Instead, I just ran and fell on my face like an idiot."  Before any more words could come out of his mouth, you put your hands on Hirose's shoulders.  The soft look on your face hardened as you looked at him straight in the eye.

"Hirose, if anything, there was nothing cowardly about what you did," you told him.  "It was a natural reaction.  Who wouldn't be scared to death of a giant monster centipede that wants to eat them? Besides, trying to confront something like that without a plan or any fighting experience is just suicide.  If you had died, then you wouldn't have a chance at becoming a better person.  Plus, imagine how Tomoko would feel if she ever found out."  Hirose perked up at the mention of his best friend, but turned glum once again once the gravity of the possible consequences.

"You don't have to be some big hero and fight monsters to be brave," you continued.  "It's best to start small.  The moment you realized and admitted your weakness to me, that took a lot of guts, you know.  Not a lot of people are willing to open up to others about their flaws because they're afraid of being judged.  Do you know what that means?"

"No...?" Hirose answered, confused.

"It means you've already taken that first giant step, silly," you said with a beaming smile.  "Keep it up, and remember what we've talked about earlier.  You're gonna do great as long as you don't give up."

A tiny spark of happiness came alive from within Hirose at those words.  He returned your smile a small one of his own.  "Heh, thanks. I'll do that."  With the curse broken at the death of its monstrous avatar, a mysterious sense of calm had washed over him.  His body felt heavy, and his eyes began to droop.

“It’s funny,” he said.  “I feel so tired all of a sudden. Did I really run that much?” He tried and failed to stifle a yawn.  For you, it was a sign of a job well done, and that it was finally your time to go.

“Don’t worry about it,” you answered.  “After all that excitement, your mind really just needs to rest a bit.  You’re going to be fine, I promise.”

“I... I see.”  It was becoming difficult for the young man to keep his eyes open.  All around the two of you, environment was slowly beginning to change once more. It was more gradual compared to the first few times.  There were patches of green as far as the eye can see where the dead grass and other plants begun returning to life.  Barren trees slowly regrew their leaves.  Sunlight was peeking through gaps in the heavy gray clouds.  The playground that was once reduced to rubble and bent pieces of metal was reformed.

You carefully helped Hirose lie down when he became too tired to keep sitting up.

“Tell me... Are you... some kind of... angel?” he asked as he laid on his side on the soft green grass.

“I guess,” you replied, not really sure what to tell him.  “Why don’t you go ahead and take that nap? After all you’ve been through, you totally deserved it.”

Hirose let out a weak chuckle.  "Yeah...” Keeping his eyes open was getting more difficult with every second.  “You know… you kind of remind me of... somebody I heard...about. Some... kind of hero... maybe...” He drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Midorijima’s [hero/heroine] gave Hirose’s form one last gentle smile as [he/she] departed from his mended subconscious.  “Good night...”

* * *

 

You were greeted by an abrupt sound akin to breaking porcelain the moment you returned to the waking world.  When you turned to the source, you found your AllMate clawing at a small pile of black-colored gravel on the ground a little ways away.

"Merlin? What are you doing?" The snowy owl AllMate stopped and turned its attention at the call of its partner.

"Ah, you've finally returned," he said.  "You certainly took a while. I was starting to get worried."

"Really? How long was I gone?"

"Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds—that's more than two minutes that your average time."  He walked closer and took a look at the young man sleeping soundly in your arms.

"How is he?" he asked.

"He's going to be fine," you replied.  "However, he almost didn't make it.  His curse was tougher to beat compared to the previous ones I fought.  I needed to use Mana Burst twice."

"Really? I guess that would explain why I sensed your energy levels fluctuating at that amount of times.  It's a bit disconcerting.  That would mean that the perpetrator had decided to step up his game a little in response to your meddling."  Merlin turned his eyes back to the gravel.  "Take a look around."

You swept your gaze around your immediate surroundings in compliance.  There were several piles of crushed gravel like the one Merlin had been messing with in front of you.

"What're all those?" you asked.  "Those weren't there before."

"Apparently, they're familiars," Merlin replied.  "They started appearing not long after you started on treating that young man's... affliction."  You picked up a large piece from a pile closest to you to examine carefully.  One side of the piece seemed strangely rounded and polished compared to the other side that was rough and jagged in comparison.  In the faint amount of light from the streetlamp across the road, you saw that the piece resembled a snake's head.

"I've analyzed each and every one of them, and detected traces of mana.  It turns out that these familiars have been made from black onyx and brought to life using magic," said Merlin.  "At first, I only spotted one hidden in the shadows.  I thought that it was simply a misplaced AllMate, but then I found that it wasn't alone.  Once I sensed their mana, I realized that they were neither mechanical nor even biological.”

"Magic?" You whispered in both awe and surprise.  You put the piece away and began to think.  As far as you knew, there were only a few people alive in the whole wide world that can use magic.  There was you, Kay, Merlin (despite being an AllMate), and… _him._

There was no way the onyx familiars belonged to any of the first three; neither you nor Merlin could make any.  Kay could—as with the Small Ones—but the main focus of his magic was trees and plants, not gems.  All that left was… could it be? No way...

"Say, Merlin, do you know the reason why they appeared in the first place?" You asked.  “And did you see anyone suspicious?”

"They never made any move to attack, so I'm guessing they were sent to spy on us," he replied.  "Whoever it was, it's possible that they might be not only a mage, but also involved with Morphine and the Broken Ones somehow.  I couldn't take any chances, so I acted accordingly.  As for your other question, I’m afraid no other human has come in close to us.  Why do you ask?"

You narrowed your eyes and tightened your lips.  You had a strong feeling that a mage had something to do with the disappearances and Broken Ones since you met and saved your first one.  However, your suspicions kept drawing to one person.  You didn’t remember much about the kind of magic he was most fond of using, but you did know that it has something to do with the earth.

You refused to believe one bit that he had anything to do with the Broken Ones; that he would do something as vile as to dabble in the dark arts.  While mages were a rarity in the world of today, it had to be someone else entirely.   _He_ was a good person; you remember that much of him.  Even with the cold treatment you got when you saw him again after many years, you were certain he still was.

If only you knew what happened to him after the tragic day.

You re-equipped your helmet before carefully adjusting your hold of Hirose so that one arm was under his knees while the other supported his back.  You then reinforced your arms and stood up.  There would be plenty of time to think about the matter.

"Come, let's take this one to the hospital before we move on," you said.  Merlin nodded in silence.  With a strong gust of wind, Midorjima's [hero/heroine] and [his/her] faithful AllMate vanished without a trace.

* * *

 

Tucked away behind a trashcan and bags a few yards away, a pile of smooth round rocks stir to life by an unseen force.  A moment later, they assembled themselves into a vague humanoid form and took off running toward the further darkness of the alley you previously occupied.  The moment it made a turn, it bumped into a large black leather boot and fell apart upon impact.  The owner of the boot moved and cast their gaze at the fallen miniature golem and let out an exasperated sigh as he bent down and collected the rocks.  Being imprisoned for years has made his spellcrafting rusty.  A long time ago, he could make more sophisticated golems, ones that could at least reassemble themselves after getting dismantled in any way. 

However, it doesn’t matter anymore.  It wasn’t much, but he learned something important today.  Though the arrival of a third party had him suspicious.  Someone else had expressed their interest in the hero King Arthur; someone who could use magic as evidenced by the familiars that appeared and were subsequently destroyed by the owl AllMate.

Mink pushed himself from the wall he was leaning against.  He got what he needed and there was no reason to stay.  He walked back to his motorcycle parked nearby, and rode away into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we see a demonstration of Reader-tan's heroics in the typical and the dangerous side of their volunteer work. Not much in the way of canon characters other than Mink (and someone else, guess who), but that will come in the next chapter.
> 
> Hirose is actually the name I gave to an extra character seen in the DMMD anime. He appeared in Episode 1 in a short flashback bit while Mizuki was explaining to Aoba about people getting "spirited away".
> 
> Sober girl and drunken girl are Koujaku's fangirls. The show up in both the game and anime.


	3. 003. Link_Connect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in your life meeting the cast (most of them anyway) turns for the weird in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Sorry to keep you all waiting. This chapter was a real doozy at more than 9k words and almost 30 pages to it. I originally wanted it to end with a meeting with Virus and Trip, but I decided to save them for the next chapter.
> 
> Also, if you find any mistakes, please tell me. I wanted to put this chapter out so bad that I might have missed some errors during revision.
> 
> In case you missed it, I added an additional scene in Chapter Two.

* * *

 

"... ... ... ... ... ... ..."

 

"At last... we finally meet..."

 

"I've heard... so much... about you..."

 

"They say that... you're a hero, always... helping... others in need..."

 

"Could you... do me a favor?..."

 

"Please come... hur r y. . ."

 

". . .a n d d e s t r o y m e. . ."

 

* * *

  
Beep! Beep! Beep!

A pair of tired [color] eyes slowly opened at the sound of the alarm clock going off.  Still groggy from sleep, you nonetheless reached out to hit the snooze button to quell the incessant infernal racket.  You turned your head to look at the time out of curiosity as your limp arm slipped down from the digital clock on your bedside table and hung at the edge of your bed; the display showed that it was already six-thirty in the morning on a Thursday.  You slowly pushed yourself out of bed with a groan, and lumbered your way to the bathroom for your daily morning ritual. Harmony Delights didn't open until eight, so there was hardly any reason to rush on your part.  Plus, Kay and his mini clone familiars handled most of the morning preparations for the shop, so once your were done, all you had to do was tie on your apron and immediately get to work.

Your body still felt as if you had a basket full of rocks mounted on your back by the time you headed to the kitchen for breakfast—your footsteps were slow and heavy, your posture was slacking, and your eyes were half-lidded.  Merlin watched you plop yourself onto a chair while one of Kay's small ones set up your breakfast in front of you.

"You don't look so well," he said while you lazily poked at your scrambled eggs with a spoon.

"'M fine," you managed to grunt out before deciding to take a bite out of a sausage.

Merlin wasn't buying it, however.  "It appears that last night's excursion has taken more of a toll on you than I thought.  Perhaps you should take today off and rest."

You, on the other hand, weren't going to budge.  "What're you talking about, Merl? I said I'm fine.  Those tables aren't gonna wait and clean themselves, y'know."

"If you insist," Merlin relented.  "Still, you should take it easy.  Why not ask Gareth and Gaheris to help you?"

Gareth and Gaheris were the two of Kay's familiars who acted as the house caretakers and your personal retainers.  Their whole purpose and reason for existence was to see to the various chores needed to be done every single day and attend to your personal needs and then some.  Unfortunately, due to their base arboreal nature, neither or them—as with Kay—had what it took to be gracious friendly hosts.

"No can do," you said.  "Kay and his saplings are certainly efficient with fulfilling orders, but providing service with a smile and friendly demeanor is something only a real person can pull off."  You took a sip of water.  "The last time we left Kay alone while on a delivery, we got a lot of complaints concerning staff unfriendliness."

"True," Merlin said in agreement.  You resumed eating without further discussion.  A moment later, you had cleaned out your plate and let out a loud sigh in satisfaction.

"Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub!" you said, patting your slightly bulging stomach.  Having a full belly had broken you out of your state of morning torpor.  You then stood up, petted Gareth and Gaheris’ leafy heads, and went for the stairs leading down to the bakery and cafe with Merlin behind you while putting on a powder blue apron you picked up from the nearby coat rack along the way.

“My! You’ve got an e-mail, [Name],” Merlin said.  “How strange.”

“Hm?”

The moment you finished tying your apron, an upbeat Celtic tune began to play all of a sudden and made you jump.  It has been a long time since your Coil rang, and so early in the morning too.  It wasn’t as if you had a lot of contacts anyway.  Only two numbers were listed: Kay’s and Merlin’s (he had an application that allowed him to communicate via Coil in case you two got separated).

You held your left wrist, where your bracelet-model Coil rested, in front of your face and tapped on the false gem facet touchscreen.  A holographic window and keyboard appeared, showing your inbox.  Most of the contents were from Kay that went all the way back since the year you first got your Coil.  They were often reminders, shopping lists, or extended delivery orders.  There were even a few from Merlin.  However, the new message that popped up didn’t come from either of them.

“What is this?” you muttered to yourself.

The sender didn’t have a proper name; rather, they went by an alias called ‘Captive Princess’.  The subject title of the message read ‘Please save me’.  Your hero instincts screamed at the sight of it.

“Get a hold on yourself, hero,” said Merlin, taking notice of the quick changes in some of your vital stats.  “That message might not even be real.  It could be a form of advertisement for all we know.  If you open that, it’d probably continue like,” he shifted to a sultry female voice, “‘Please help me.  I’m troubled by my aching body’,” back to male, “or something.”

“That… didn’t sound appropriate,” you said with a cringe.  You had no idea Merlin could change his voice like that.  “How did this even get through to my inbox? Aren’t we subscribed to the best Ad and Spam blocker there is?”

“My readings indicate that the blocker is functioning normally,” said Merlin.  “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer myself.”

You blew a puff of air in annoyance.  “Whatever. I’ll just delete—” the e-mail opened and rapidly began to download just as her finger hovered over the option, “—this.”  You sent a scolding look at your AllMate, who tilted his head in that creepy near upside down angle that always bothered you whenever you saw it.

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

A chime alerted you that the file had finished downloading.  “Whatever, this is, it better not be anything ugly. I’ll look at it later.  Make sure to scan it for viruses.”  You closed your inbox and dismissed the hologram.

“Understood.”

"By the way, what time is it now, Merlin?" you asked on your way down the staircase.

"It's now seven fifty-one a.m.  Kay should be opening the shop by now," he replied.

A series of loud bangs nearly startled you into missing a step at the bottom of the stairs.  You managed to react quickly and caught yourself on the railing just as a loud gruff voice echoed through the walls.

"Oi! This is the police! We have you surrounded! Open up or I'll have you all under arrest!" Oh, it was _that_ guy.  You knew that yelling all too well.  You relaxed a little as Kay went up to raise the shutters, revealing a thin man with graying brown hair, sunken cheeks, and bags under his eyes.  He was dressed in a white button-up shirt with a green tie, dark brown slacks, black gloves, and a light brown trench coat that seemed a little bit too big for his body.  An army of people decked from head to toe in blue police uniforms stood behind him.  His name was Akushima—a detective who was notorious throughout the Old Residential District for abusing his power and authority and went around doing whatever he wanted.  He was often seen running around with a small army of police officers, and took pleasure in arresting anyone he sees as a criminal no matter who they are or what they did (or didn't do).  Countless people had suffered through his violent and drastic measures in enforcing the law.

He became a regular at your shop only recently.  He usually arrived with this men at the exact time you open, demanding coffee.  Why he would come all the way to your place when there was a coffee shop across the street from the police station was beyond you.  Still, despite his rough demeanor, he and his men were paying customers, and they weren't bothering anybody so there was hardly any reason to kick them out (and risk getting arrested by rousing the man's ire).  It was also a good thing that they often arrived early—they could take their coffee alongside some food to-go and leave before all your other customers came in.

He and his corrupt officers were among the reasons you decided to become a [hero/heroine] in the first place.

"Hurry it up, you hooligans, before I break the damn door!" The man kept yelling through his megaphone.  His voice rang so loud that not even the glass display windows and door panels could stifle them.  It was as if he was in the room with you, blasting the damned thing in your face.

Kay turned the 'Closed' sign to 'Open' and unlocked the door.  Almost immediately, the man and his troop barged in the second the latched clicked.  The treant would have been bulldozed if it weren't for his fast reflexes.

"As we always tell you, a simple 'Good Morning' would have sufficed, Detective Akushima," he said as you jogged up to the counter where the troop of officers gathered.

"And as _I_ always tell ya, 'Shut up and get me my goddamned morning coffee', ya weird emo delinquent!" Akushima retorted.  When the latter didn't react, he clicked his tongue and turned to you as you poured some hot coffee into a styrofoam cup.

"How the hell does a guy like that have a job?" he asked. "I mean, look at him," he looked back to Kay who was now setting up the cash register a few feet away, "He's so pale that he almost looks like a corpse.  And those shitty colored contacts and dye job aren't helping either—for crying out loud, he looks like he's got leaves on his head instead of hair!"

"Ermm..." You weren't sure how to respond to that.

"I'm surprised this place gets any business at all with an unfriendly employee like that!" Akushima went on, taking the cup in one hand.  "From all the times I've come here, I haven't seen him smile even once!" He took a sip and sighed in contentment.

 _Who would want to smile with a guy like you around?_ "W-Would you gentlemen like some coffee as well?" you asked the troop with a wry smile, hoping to stir the conversation away from Kay and you could be rid of them quickly.  The troop looked to their leader for permission. Akushima just drank his coffee and waved his free hand in a silent gesture to 'go ahead'.  You ran around fulfilling each of their orders as fast as you can before your other regulars arrived.

Akushima slapped some money on the counter next the cash register to pay for his coffee after the last subordinate took his turn paying.

"You know, you could learn a thing or two from your coworker over there!" he barked at Kay, pointing at you.  You turned away the moment you took notice, pretending to be busy by wiping imaginary dust off the coffee jars at the barista station.  "If you want people to keep coming in to throw their money at this place, ya gotta at least pretend to be happy!" Akushima then left the shop without waiting for any response, grumbling under his breath.

"Thank you for your patronage," Kay said right as the door closed.  You breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the temperamental cop was gone.

"He's as charming as usual," you said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Truly? It seems to be clear that he was a rather loud, boorish, ill-mannered cur," said Kay.

"I was being sarcastic.  We have talked about this."

If treants could sigh, Kay would have.  "I will never understand such subtle humor."

A few moments after Akushima left, other customers began to trickle in.  You straightened up to greet them as they entered.

* * *

  
Business went by without any more major hitches as the morning went.  However, once the peak hours arrived and customer traffic increased, you were running ragged.  You couldn't ask Kay for help since he was busy ringing up people.  Using magic to increase your speed was out of the question after one time when food got sent flying onto a few customers sitting behind you due to you having moved a little too fast.  Merlin gave you an earful for that and explicitly told you to keep magic a secret from that day onwards; otherwise, people would start talking and asking questions you weren't ready to answer.

"Maybe I should consider hiring additional help," you mumbled to yourself as you wiped your slightly sweaty brow.

"Big [bro/sis]!" three young voices suddenly snap you out of your musing. You turned around to see three familiar children.  Kio, Nao, and Mio were triplets who stopped by at the shop least once a week to buy sweets with money they saved from their allowance.  They were always sweet and polite to you, and they were careful not to bother the other customers.

"Hey, kids," you greeted them.  "What can I get you today?"

"We want muffins!" replied Nao.

"Yeah!" Kio chimed in agreement.  Mio, the only girl, crossed her arms and turned her face away.

"None for me, though," she said with a small pout, much to her brothers' (and yours to a degree) shock.

"What?" Nao cried in utter disbelief. "But Big [bro/sis]'s stuff is delicious!"

"You don't like Big [bro/sis] [Name]'s sweets anymore?" asked Kio.

"No."  Mio turned to her brothers and looked at them straight in the eye, sounding quite adamant in her reply. "Mommy said sweets are full of sugar, and sugar is bad for you and makes you fat, so I won't care for them anymore.  There are better things out there I could spend money on."

Her brothers were at a loss for words.  Mio often went with anything they did no matter how stupid, even if only to scold them for it.  To them, it was as if a completely different person was standing in front of them instead of their sister.

"You know, kids, just because something tastes sweet, it doesn't mean that it can't be healthy," you said, taking their attention back to you.  You then point at a decorative cornucopia of fruit sitting on the top left of the display counter.  "Take fruits, for instance. Most of them are sweet, but a lot of grown-ups insist on eating them because they're healthy."

"I've been experimenting for the past few weeks trying to see if I can make some of my desserts healthy while keeping them delicious," you kept on.  "I already have a few things put out.  So far, a lot of grown-ups have taken to them well.  Though I'm not quite sure yet if kids will like it though.  So, you guys wanna help me out and taste them?"

At that, they boys' eyes lit up as if they had stumbled upon a mountain of gold.  Mio remained unmoved, but you could see that she was beginning to take interest.

"Well... when you put it like that..."

"Tell you what, if you end up liking them, you can have a piece for free.  If not, you can have whatever you want for half the usual price—but only for today. How about it, huh?"

"Okay!" came the Kio and Nao's enthusiastic cheerful answer.

"Fine, I guess," answered Mio.  " Don't expect me to like them though."

"Great!" you said, flashing a beaming smile.  "I'll be right back."  You went behind the display shelves and pulled out what appeared to be a chocolate-chip muffin, a brownie, and donut covered in white icing and nuts.  You cut them up in three equal pieces each and put them on a small tray and present it to the kids.  Their eyes seemed to sparkle at the sight.

"Alright, dig in."  Without further ado, the trio grabbed a piece of the desserts and popped them in their mouths.  The next moment, they began to stuff themselves with the rest. It was indeed a good sign.

"Well, what do you think?" you asked anyway even if you already knew the answer.

"Dibs ah goob!" said Nao through a mouthful of the muffin, sending crumbs flying with every mangled word. Kio nodded along, still chewing on the last bite of brownie.

"Ew! At least chew and swallow first before talking! Boys can be so filthy," cried a disgusted Mio holding a half-eaten piece of the donut.  "I admit, this is really good. But it's a little crunchy, and it's not because of the nuts."

You chuckled at Mio's statement; she always was the smartest and most observant out of the three of them.  "Great observation, Mio," you said.  "You wanna know a secret? The donut was crunchy because I used an apple for the bread part.  The muffins were made with zucchini, and the main ingredient for the brownies was avocado."

All three couldn't hold back their gasps at the revelation.

"We actually ate something healthy?!" asked Kio in alarm.

"No way! It was so good, I didn't notice anything weird!" said Mio.

Nao just kept eating the other pieces of desserts that were left untouched.  He didn't seemed to be as bothered as his siblings.

Another chuckle escaped from you at their reactions to the revelation.  "Then I guess I take it that you liked them."

All three simultaneously voiced their agreement without any hesitation.  "Alright, settle down," you said.  "Stay put, I'll be right back."

You went behind the display shelves again, taking a small box along.  You came back in front of the kids a moment later and held out the open box.

"Here," you said.  "It's on the house, just as promised."  Their eyes seemed to sparkle when they found the same exact treats filled the box from every possible space."

"Woooow..." You closed the box and handed it over to Mio who took it gingerly in her small hands.

"Thank you," she said.

"Thanks, big [bro/sis]!" cried Nao.

"Here, here!" said Kio.  You watched in contentment as the triplets bid you goodbye and exited your shop giggling and laughing.  You went back to work as soon as they disappeared from sight.

A few minutes later, the shop phone began to ring.

"I got it!" You jogged your way to the old fashioned, wall-mounted phone behind Kay and picked up the receiver.

"Hello and thank you for calling.  This is Harmony Delights Bakery and Cafe.  How can I help you?" you said using your best customer service voice.

"Oh, hello! You're that new popular sweetshop people have been talking about, right?" said the person on the other line.  From their voice, you deduced them to be an older, probably middle-aged, woman.  "I've heard that you have a same-day delivery service.  I s that true?"

"Yes to both of those questions," you replied, pulling out a notepad and a pencil from your apron pocket.  "Is there anything you'd like to order?"

"Yes, of course," answered the woman.  "I'd like to place an order for a strawberry shortcake—not just a slice, I mean a whole cake.  Have it taken to Delivery Works as soon as possible, will you? Here's my address..."

You wrote the order and address down hastily as she spoke.  "Sure thing, ma'am. Your name please?"

"Oh silly me, where are my manners," the caller responded jovially.  "Call me Yoshie, darling."

"Okay then.  Thank you for choosing us.  Your order will be with you in thirty minutes or less; otherwise, it's free."

"Ohoho, how splendid! See you later then.  Bye!" Yoshie, the caller, hung up her end of the line with an audible click.  You put the phone away and turned to Kay who had just finished ringing up another customer.

"Kay, I'm going to have to go on a delivery run," you said.  "Hold down the fort while I'm gone, okay?"

"As always," he replied.

"Thanks!" You bent down to grab one of the delivery boxes under the counter to begin and headed for the kitchen to take one of the spare cakes to package and deliver.  Once you were done, you called Merlin before heading out the back door to your trusty motorbike.

"Hey, Merl, what's the fastest route to Delivery Works?" you asked, revving the engine.

"Let me see..." Merlin stood still on his perch on top of the sidecar to search.  "There's a police inspection on Route 241 nearby.  You're going to have to go around it by bypassing the north terminal.  At your usual speed, you should be able to get there at less than ten minutes."

"Got it, thanks."  You patted Merlin's head and he let out a hoot in appreciation.  "Let's ride!"

* * *

  
A few minutes later into your ride, you began to spot the sign for Delivery Works—the only courier service in town—at the end of Aoyagi Street.  However, as you got closer, you noticed a thick crowd had gathered in the middle of the road.  It seemed to be a loud fight.  Curious onlookers were gathered around, making noise.  You slowed to a stop and suppressed a frustrated groan.  What was it with the locals of this island and their strange tendency to start fights and block roads meant for vehicles to pass through?

"It looks like I'll have to go around here," you muttered.

"Yes, well.  That would mean that you'd have to circle the whole block," quipped Merlin.  "That would add a significant amount to your travel time and you'll end up having to deliver a 'free' cake."

You bit the inside of your cheek at the thought of having to lose business due to something so trivial.  You could ask the crowd to leave, but you didn't want to bring any unwanted attention to yourself.

"Tch! It looks like I'm gonna have to go full throttle around the block then," you grumbled.  "It's not like the speed laws here are properly enforced anyway."  You backed up a little and got ready to make a turn.

"Do be careful not to run over anyone," said Merlin.

"I know, I know," you said, and you sped away to your chosen direction.

But not long after, a shrill scream reached your ears.  You abruptly swerved into a narrow alley and stopped in alarm.

"What was that? Is someone in trouble?" you asked.

"Possibly," Merlin answered.  "Though are you sure that you want to confront it? You're still in the middle of a delivery, you know."

"Just a quick investigation," you countered.  "If it's nothing, I'll return quickly.  If it's something, I'll finish it and return more quickly."

Before Merlin could put another word in, you got off your bike and zigzagged your way up on the sides of the buildings on either side of the alley with reinforced legs while transforming into your alter ego along the way. Merlin watched you go.

"You just can't resist a call for help, can't you?" he muttered to himself.

* * *

  
"You're a big guy, but you weren't that much of a big deal," said a man with long dark navy hair in an over-the-shoulder ponytail, a big curved sword, and wearing a flashy red kimono to another man lying face down in a defeated heap across from him as the gathered crowd watched and cheered. "I can't believe you'd make a mess in front of such a fine lady."

Several girls from the crowd squealed in excitement at the suave manner the kimono clad swordsman spoke in.  When he tapped his large sword on his shoulder, they all rushed to him with hearts in their eyes, singing praises while stepping on the loser who remained on the ground.  Poor guy.

Somewhere in the crowd, someone made a disgusted face and noise at the scene.

Any semblance to a celebration for the swordsman’s small victory was cut then short when a strong gust of wind blew through the crowd from up above.  Startled cries echoed when your sabaton clad boot made hard contact with his chest and sent him flying a few feet away before landing on the asphalt, only a couple of inches short of hitting the people behind him.

"Eek! Koujaku-san!" one of the girls who had been fawning over him, cried in panic.

"Are you okay?" asked another.

The sound of footsteps and clacking metal had everyone's heads turn to the assailant.  Collective gasps resounded in the tense air upon seeing that the one who attacked was none other than you, Midorijima's hero, standing between the (now two) downed men.

"No way! Is that really him?"

"Wah! It's King Arthur!"

"I thought he only comes out at night."

"Kyaaaaa! King Arthur's here!" Among the girls who were gathered around Koujaku, you could spot the two you've rescued from a sleazy gang the night before.

"You think they're gonna fight?"

"I don't know, but this is  _so_ going to the CoilNet.  The local hero facing off against the leader of Benishigure? This is gonna be epic!"

The fallen swordsman, Koujaku, slowly got back on his feet amidst the babbling, rubbing the spot on his chest where he was kicked while casting and angry glare at his your direction.

You're not sure how, but you can tell that something was a bit off with the man.  He seemed formidable, unlike the small fry you usually face, and you could sense some sort of negative energy attached to him—not psychologically speaking.

You stood strong with muscles tensed up, ready for the impending battle that could ensue.

"I don't know you are, but if you're seriously wanting to start a fight, then..."  He trailed off in the middle of his threat and his ire was forgotten the instant he got a better look at you and your armored form, earning puzzled looks from the surrounding audience.

"Ah, so you're the rather famous hero I've been hearing about since I got here," he said, lips curling into a smirk.  He gave you a proper once-over, sizing you up.  "Not too shabby."  He then took notice of your longsword strapped to your hip.

"I see you also have a good taste in weaponry.  You must have hurt a lot of miscreants with it."  Koujaku bent down to pick up his own sword which had fallen out of his grasp when you kicked him.

"Not entirely," you said, your voice giving off an echo with every word due to your helmet.  "My blade is mostly to intimidate criminals into thinking twice before messing with me.  Though I admit, there were rare times when I had to draw it out.  Even so, not once have I harmed anyone with its edge."

Koujaku gave out a good-natured chuckle.  "Well said.  I like the way you think," he said.  "You know, I'm not usually the type to give invitations, but if you're up for it, there's always room for more members in Benishigure."

The crowd gasped.

"Whoa! Is it just me, or did Koujaku just asked King Arthur to join his Rib team?"

"No, he totally just did."

"Heh, there's no way he'll agree.  King Arthur isn't a big fan of Ribsteez."  That particular comment never went unheard by your ears.  It was true for the most part.  On your nightly crime-stopping spree, your first priority targets were always members of Rib teams as they were most likely to cause trouble.

"Tempting as your offer may be, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline," you said.  ("See I told you!") "In fact, I'm actually offended that you have the audacity to do so.  I have absolutely no intention of sidling up with a bunch of ill-bred thugs who have nothing better to do with their lives other than picking fights with one another or harassing some poor innocent."  A few men in Japanese-style clothing glared in your direction.

Koujaku's visible eyebrow twitched at the grating comment, but looking at the way the latter stood in front of the man he had downed moments prior, he came to realize that you were simply doing what you were supposed to do as the town hero.  From your point of view, it seemed that he had trashed the other man since he was in Rib and the latter was a No-Mark who happened to cross his path.  Inviting King Arthur to be a part of a team only made the matter worse since he practically revealed that he was the leader of his own Rib Team.

"I see there has been a misunderstanding," he said.

"What do you mean?" you asked in confusion.

"Um... Um, I'm really sorry..." A soft voice made itself heard from behind you.  You turned to see a young woman with short blonde hair step forward between you and Koujaku. To your surprise, she lowered her head toward him in a deep respectful bow.

"I was being selfish and I told him I wanted Koujaku-san to do my hair, and he—" she said, full of remorse.

"So cheeky!" one of the other ladies cut her off with a sneer.

"Yeah! Know when it's your turn!" said yet another.

You stood trying to figure out what was going on.  From what had just transpired, it seemed that the embarrassed young woman was in a romantic relationship with the victim.  The red swordsman, called Koujaku from what you've been hearing, possibly worked as a stylist who seemed to be popular among the female population (that sounded kinda weird).  You put two and two together and it concluded that the victim and his girlfriend tried to enter Koujaku's establishment after the latter had suggested it, and started an uproar that led to a conflict that eventually led to the victim being on the receiving end of Koujaku's punishment.

The victim's girlfriend then turned to you and bowed as well.  "I'm also sorry for causing you trouble as well.  If it weren't for my pettiness, you wouldn't have needed to get involved since you're the town hero and you probably have a lot of better things to do."

Aaaand it just got awkward….

"Erm... well..." You struggled to find the right words to say.  You looked to Koujaku and the crowd only to find all their eyes on you.  The attention they were giving you was making you nervous.  You absolutely hate being put on the spot like this.  Why did this young woman even apologize to you? It wasn't her fault that you decided to come.  You made that decision on your own!

"It-It's quite alright," you said, standing tall with arms akimbo and putting on an air of confidence.  "Think nothing of it--It was no trouble at all.  I came because I heard your cries of distress.  As the hero, it's only natural to answer a call for help!" Gods, you really sounded like one of those idiotic pompous comic book superheroes! How embarrassing.

"Oh, how gallant!" You heard a lady cry out.

"Honestly, I can't decide who I like more—Koujaku-san or King Arthur."  People were actually impressed?

"It would be easier if we could see what King Arthur really looked like."

You sank further into your shame when you heard Koujaku laughing.  "It looks like you have fans.  Though I suppose you already knew that," he said.  No you didn't.  Between working at the shop, doing volunteer charity work, and volunteer heroics, you never really had the time to notice any possible fans.

"You're a great guy; I like you.  It's just a shame that you think so negatively of Rib.  Believe it or not, not all Ribsters are as rotten as you'd like to think."  He then turned to the bowing woman.  "Young lady, if it was as you said, then I feel nothing less than honored and privileged to be a hairdresser.  Then again, you're all my precious customers.  It's really important to keep the line in order."

"Y-Yes..." she replied.

"Your boyfriend was a bit pushy, but he was thinking about your happiness," Koujaku continued.  "Don't blame him too much, okay? Well please do come again someday.  When you do, I'll welcome you."

"He sure is smooth..." you muttered to yourself.  "I'm almost jealous."

"Okay!" The troubled woman's expression changed incredibly quickly.  Her eyes sparkled and a blush crept up to her cheeks.

"You sure bounced back quick," you said dryly.  "Don't you have a boyfriend to attend to?" She didn't seem to hear you though.

However, the other women surrounding Koujaku didn't like where the conversation was going.

"Hey! How long are you going to stand there? Get a move on!" one said.

Another turned to the red swordsman.  "Um, Koujaku-san! You broke a sweat, right? And your chest must still be hurting."  She pulled out a handkerchief and a tube of ointment.  "I just bought this handkerchief and pain cream a while ago, but... if you'd like, please use them."

Koujaku merely shook his head in refusal.  "No, I can't do that.  You bought that handkerchief because you liked it, and that pain cream because you might need it, right? You should use them for yourself."

"It's okay! If Koujaku-san would use these, I'm sure they would like it too!" You couldn't help but make a face at her dreadfully faulty logic.

"I see, huh..." Koujaku said, looking a little hesitant.  "Since you put it like that, if I refused, then I'd be out of line.  Well, I'll thankfully use them then."  He then took the woman's hands together with her items and drew them closer to himself, smiling all the while.

"Thanks."

The woman squealed and seemed to melt in his arms, inciting glares of jealousy from the all the others surrounding them.

"Ugh, seriously!" You cringed at that moment.  You couldn't stand to watch more of that borderline lewd display.  They were in public for goodness' sake! People are watching!

You turned away to leave.  You've wasted enough time as it was.  The crowd began to part to make way for you to get through.

"Wait!" You stopped at the sound of Koujaku's voice calling out to you.  You turned to look at him. He was standing alone, the women having distanced themselves from him.

"Next time we meet, how about a friendly match," he said, pointing his sword at you.  "I'd like to see how good Midorijima's hero, King Arthur, is with a blade with my own eyes."  The crowd fell silent.

You huffed, narrowing your eyes at the challenge.  "You speak as if you've already won."  You drew your longsword and returned the gesture in kind.  "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you."

Koujaku smirked.  "Am I to assume you mean 'yes'?"

"Only __if__ there's a next time," you replied.

"I look forward to it."

"Likewise."  The two of you put away your swords.

"Now, if there's nothing else, I'm gonna go."  You turned around and ran towards the crowd who immediately made way.  With your wind magic, you jumped up and flew away the moment you got out of the throng who watched in amazement as you disappeared behind a building nearby.

"Whoa! The rumors were true—he can really fly!" said a bystander.

"Aww man.  I thought there was gonna be a fight, not this boring talky stuff," said another bystander while going through the footage he recorded in his Coil.  "Though on the bright side, Koujaku challenged King Arthur.  That counts for something at least."

* * *

  
"Would you mind explaining why you took so long?" asked an apparently annoyed Merlin the moment you returned and detransforming.

"I'm sorry.  I couldn't help it; I got caught up in the moment," you said with a sheepish smile.  "The good news though, it wasn't anything too bad—it was just a small misunderstanding."

"A small misunderstanding should have taken you less than ten minutes to resolve," Merlin countered.

"I know that, but one thing led to another and before I knew it, I had accepted a challenge to a duel with the leader of the Rib Team Benishigure."

"Good grief! At this rate, it will take a miracle to make our delivery on time!"

You raised your hands in a placating gesture.  "Calm down, Merl.  The crowd's probably gone by now after that whole fiasco got resolved.  We can take the main road straight ahead now."

Merlin gave you a doubtful look.  "For your sake, I sure hope so."

The crowd had indeed dispersed and disappeared when you got back on your route a moment later and it was smooth sailing from that point on.  You parked your motorbike at the meter in front of Delivery Works and entered through the sign-bearing automatic doors along with Merlin and your package on hand.

You were greeted by the smiling face of a large woman with brown bobbed hair, glasses, and lavender business casual outfit sitting at the reception.

"Hello there! Welcome!" she said.  "Who might you be?"

"I'm from Harmony Delights.  I'm here on a delivery for a certain Yoshie-san," you answer, raising your boxed cake to show her.

"Oh! That would be me. Thank you so much!" You put the box on top of the counter in front of the chipper older woman.  You then took notice of a small dog with long glossy fur sitting proudly on its fancy canopied bed on the right side of the counter, closely watching your movements.

“Oh, how cute!” you said.  “Yoshie-san, is this your AllMate?”

The older woman smiled at your expressed interest.  “Why, of course. This is my little Clara,” she said.  “Say ‘hello’ to the nice delivery [boy/girl], Clara-chan.”

“Hello,” said the canine AllMate in compliance in a young woman’s voice before moving her gaze to your AllMate sitting on your shoulder.  “And who is this?”

“My apologies for my lack of manners, miss,” Merlin chimed in before you could answer.  “I am Merlin.  It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”  He bowed a little to emphasize his politeness.  Clara giggled and raised a paw to her mouth as she turned to face away whilst looking coy.

“Aren’t you quite the gentleman,” she said.

“I do my best,” Merlin quipped.

“My, how wonderful! My Clara-chan made a new friend!” The middle-aged woman squealed in delight.

Around that exact moment, you heard the door open once more. Yoshie and Clara shifted their attention towards the newcomer. Out of curiosity, you turned your head to see who the new guy was, and your eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Welcome! Oh, it's you Aoba-chan.  Hello!" Yoshie greeted them.

"Thanks, as usual," Aoba responded.  You watched with bated breath as he went over and placed a paper bag on the counter next to your cake box.

He seemed to be the same lean young man with long messy blue hair, except he was now a little taller than you and looked a wee bit more mature than the last time you saw him.  He wore a puffy white and blue 'Brain Nuts' jacket instead of his old black and orange one along with a pink headset, and carried a duffle bag around one shoulder.

Your mind quickly sifted through memories as you stared at him—you, Merlin, Usui, swords, battle, Rhyme...

"Sly Blue..." The words came out as a whisper.  You froze, heart racing a mile per minute.  Merlin looked at him thoughtfully before casting a concerned gaze on you.

Unfortunately, you whisper must have been audible enough for him to hear as he had stopped talking to Yoshie to turn and face you.

"Umm, sorry, did you say something?" he asked, looking at you with curious light brown eyes.

"I-I..." you started, but the rest wouldn't come out.  This was the guy who reigned as the undefeated King of Rhyme who sauntered the streets of the shadiest places in the dark of night as if he owned the place; who never hesitated to mess with anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way.

This was the guy who you usurped form his arrogant throne, and the one who you almost killed for real in what was supposed to be just an augmented reality game.

"[Name], your heart rate is accelerating and your stress levels are rapidly rising," Merlin said.  "Take a few deep breaths to try and calm down."

"Hey, are you okay?" Aoba seemed to be concerned over you now.  "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Uuuuh..."  You couldn't form an answer.

"Ooh, I almost forgot!" Yoshie-san's outburst startled you back to reality.  The rotund woman took and searched through her wallet before pulling out a laminated card.  "By any chance, do you take cards? I'm afraid I haven't gotten the hang of paying through Coil yet."

You did your best to compose yourself, but your anxiety lingered.  Before you could 'think' of a proper reply, your mouth had already beat you to it.  "Y-Yes, of course! I do.  We at Harmony Delights want our products to be accessible for everyone, and we understand that not all could pay in the same manner, so we accept payments through Coil, debit cards, or even as hard currency.  Heck! We'll even _barter_ with you in either material goods or services!"

Well, that wasn't bad per say.  You still managed to answer Yoshie-san's question even though it got weird in the end.

"Barter?" asked Aoba in confusion.  Apparently, he thought your last line was as weird as you did when you were done talking.

"It means that if you can't pay for your food with money at our place, you can choose to trade an item for it or work off your bill," Merlin explained to him.  "Although that policy has yet to be implemented."  The snowy owl looked at its partner pointedly who in turn, scratched the back of [his/her] head in embarrassment while giving a wry laugh.

"Oh," Aoba said.

"Anyway, I've got to get going.  There's still a lot of work to be done at the bakery and I'm pressed for time as it is," you said.  "Thank you for your business, Yoshie-san."

"Think nothing of it, Delivery [boy/girl]-san. It was my pleasure," said Yoshie.

"Same here.  Haga-san had to close the shop early since he was going to meet some important client," Aoba chimed in.

"I see.  Though before either of you go, I really need to tell you something important!" Yoshie beckoned the two of you to come closer.  After exchanging a look and shrugging shoulders, you decided to comply.

There were no other people in the shop, but for some reason, Yoshie started to speak in a whispering voice.

"You know, Hyougadani in the North? That dangerous district?" she said.  "It was never a good place from the start, but recently I've heard some nasty rumors."

"Yeah?" Aoba muttered, urging her to keep going but sounded rather impatient.  You remaind silent, genuinely curious the moment you heard the North District being mentioned.

"There seems to be a team whose leader is a super diabolical condemned criminal!" Yoshie seemed to declare.

"Ah. Scratch was it?" said Aoba.  "Some dangerous gang seems to be around that area a lot now."

A dangerous gang? Did that mean Ribsteez? You've been to the North a fair number of times, but this was the first time you're hearing of any gang.  You knew that the guys were criminals, sure, but you’d have never thought of them organizing themselves into one.  And a diabolical leader?

"Yes, yes, the team seems to be completely made of prisoners," Yoshie continued.  "If I remember right, even before that, there were stories of people getting kidnapped, or buildings being destroyed, right? That's so scary! You can't even walk alone peacefully at night."  Her words were going into familiar territory, and the anxiety you had just managed to suppress came bubbling back.  "And the police aren't reliable at all... Not to mention they don't know what to do for us.  Really, it's a hard world we live in."

It was true that the locals of the island have neither faith nor trust in their policemen due to their corruption.  For the most part, they didn't care whether crimes were being committed.  For instance, if one managed to get on an officer's nerves (which wasn't too hard to pull off), they'd get punched; or in the worst case, arrested.  People often compared them to the yakuza.

Your thoughts drifted back to a certain man with dreadlocks.  First, it was dark magic; then, criminal activity.  Though you have heard the other day that he had been... incarcerated for quite some time, you were sure that he'd never get involved in any kind of gang.  He was a peaceful one as far as you remembered; never lost his temper even once.  Whenever conflict arose, he did his best to solve it through compromise.  His fellow villagers loved him for his disposition and were confident that he would be a great successor to their elder one day.

Except... that wasn't going to happen now.  Not ever.

You recalled how cold he was toward you the other day.

He wouldn't go so far as to resort to criminal acts... would he?

Then again, you never knew what happened to him after that.  You thought he was dead the entire time.

"Aw, yuck.  I want to go home soon too," Yoshie kept going, but soon gained a dreamy look on her face.  "Knowing that, I'd normally get nervous even thinking about how I might get attacked on the way home, but then I heard about a knight in shining armor running around town saving people from hoodlums a few years back!"

"Y-You don't say..." you said in a wry tone that the elder woman hadn't noticed.  She was on a roll.

"I almost wish that I __do__ get attacked if only for that strong, gallant, dashing, hero to come and sweep me off my feet! Oh ho ho ho! It'd be just like in T.V. dramas!" Yoshie, at that point, resembled a young girl in love and began to ramble about all the possible scenarios where and how she and the knight of Midorijima would possibly meet.

Feeling a bit weirded out, you turned to the young man next to you, anxiety temporarily forgotten.  “Is-Is she often like this?” you asked while the older woman kept talking in the background.

“Well...” he began with a sheepish smile.  “Yeah… but she’s not a bad person.  I wouldn’t worry about her too much.”

Both of you listened to Yoshie’s ramblings for a few more minutes, but once it became clear that she was too lost in her own little world to stop, Aoba went ahead to interrupt.

“Ah, well I’m already finished here so… Good job today!” he said, looking irritated despite the cheery tone in his voice and began to leave in a hurry.

“Yeah, me too.  It was nice meeting you, Yoshie-san.” You bowed and went to follow the young man out the door.

Yoshie seemed to have a sharp sense of hearing since despite loving to talk, she managed to notice the two youngsters attempting to escape.  You managed to get away before she got her hands on you.  However, Aoba wasn’t as lucky.  You spared one last glace back and your [color] eyes met with his pleading brown ones, but you simply replied by shaking your head ‘no.’  Sorry Aoba, but this delivery-[boy/girl] had enough of Yoshie-san for the day.  You sincerely hoped that you wouldn’t have to deal with her any time soon.  The older woman was not a bad person, that much was true, but she sure loved to talk.  You haven’t said anything because you didn’t want to be rude.

It was twilight when you came out of Delivery Works and left Aoba to his fate.  You let out a big sigh of relief once you clambered on your bike.  Looking back through the glass doors of Delivery Works, you could see Aoba still being occupied with talking to Yoshie; though he was now being fed some cake (against his will).  It didn’t look like the one you had sold earlier.

“Finally,” you said.  “I thought I’d never get out of there.”

“True.  If we stayed any longer, we wouldn’t be going home,” Merlin agreed.

“Yeah.”  You turned the ignition and the engine roared to life.  But after going only a few yards, the engine started to sputter and fizzled out.

“What?” You tried again a few more times, but your bike refused to start.  “The hell’s wrong with this thing?”

“[Name], check the tank.  It might be empty,” said Merlin.  You looked around to watch out for any potential witnesses.  The street you were on was void of any people other than a few walking around far enough in between of each other and away from you.

Once you determined it was safe, you cast your eyes down at the small intricate magic circle on the bike fuel tank where the gas cap usually sat on for normal bikes.  You laid your hand over the circle and pushed a little bit of your mana onto it.  You felt it get absorbed and raised your hand back up.  The circle now gave off a faint but noticeable blue glow.  A couple of seconds after, you watched a thin black outline draw itself into existence around the perimeter of the circle, followed immediately by a hissing sound as air and small puffs of white smoke got forcefully expelled while a long, narrow compartment rose on the spot.  You bent down a little and looked to the side to examine said compartment and grimaced.

“Aww, dang!” You reached inside with one of your fingers and pulled out a large glass tube containing a dull gray-colored crystal. “This magicell is all tapped out, and I don’t have any spares with me.”

“I kept reminding you to keep at least one in your apron pocket in case you’d need it,” Merlin chided you.

You sighed.  “I know, I know.  But magicell tubes aren’t exactly tiny.  Plus, it gets in the way when I reach in to get my pen and notepad when I take orders.”  You got off the vehicle, closed the compartment and began to push it around by the handlebars.  “I guess I’ll have to foot it.  Anyway, call Kay.  Tell him he can close up and that we’ll be home a bit late.”

“Understood,” said Merlin, getting to work at once.

You kept a relaxed pace on your trek back toward your shop.  There was no point in rushing as it was about closing time, and you were sure Kay will be taking care of the other things you usually do that didn’t involve heroics.

* * *

  
A few minutes later, you caught the faint sound of upbeat techno music.  You stopped and turned your sight at an alley and saw a noisy crowd forming around around some bright lights.  The repeated cheers of “Usui!” resonated through the alleys.  A session of Rhyme was starting, no doubt about it.  You thought of leaving and going on you merry way, but your sight caught on a head full of blue hair struggling to pull himself out of the crowd.

You didn’t know what it was that compelled you to move or do anything at all.  You knew for certain that you couldn’t bear to be in the presence of the person who almost died by your hand a few years ago out of sheer guilt.  Maybe you had been helping people as a hero for so long that coming to the rescue became an instinct.  In less than a minute, you rushed to his side and grabbed his arm.  There was a bit of struggle on your end, but you managed to get Aoba free.  He fumbled his footing and began to fall forward.  Thankfully, you had quick reflexes and caught him before his body collided with yours.

“Thanks,” he said as he righted himself.

“No problem,” you replied and turned to leave immediately. You didn’t want to be near him any more than you needed to.

“Wait!” You felt a hand closed around your bicep, halting your steps.  “You’re that delivery-[boy/girl] from earlier, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. What of it?” you asked, refusing to look at him.

“I—”

“Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone! Rhyme starts now!” A masculine voice with a digital lilt echoed, cutting off whatever Aoba was going to say.  The two of you turned your attention to Usui, the judge and facilitator of the game in all its ten armed glory.  With a wave of its arms, a Rhyme Field was erected.  You stepped a few ways back, not wanting to get caught in it.

“Our first battle today will be between Rhyme Names ‘Player’ and ‘Route 44’!” Two large virtual monitors then appeared over Usui’s head with a sway of two hands.  Those monitors allowed the audience to watch the state of the game.  The participants were already standing on both sides of Usui and adjusted the settings on their AllMates.

“’Player’ has played five times, and has won three of those in a row.  His opponent, ‘Route 44’, will be playing for the first time,” Usui continued to commentate.  “Can the newcomer successfully break the winning streak? Let’s find out! Game… START!!!”

Usui smiled and raised a hand with the grace of a maiden, contradicting its voice.  The monitor emitted a white light and projected the field.  The audience cheered and hooted unanimously.

You decided to stick around and watch them for a while.  You may not play anymore, but there wasn’t any harm in watching other people play.  It has be been quite a while since you’ve seen a battle.

“So this is Rhyme,” you heard Aoba mutter.  “I’ve never seen it up close before.”  You gave him a strange look.

“You talk as if you’ve never played before,” you said.

“That’s because I haven’t,” he retorted.  “I’ve really never played Rhyme before.”  You let out a gasp, utterly appalled at his statement.

“What do you mean by that?” you asked.  “You… don’t remember?”

Aoba raised a brow in confusion.  “Remember what?”

You fell silent in a loss of words.  How could he not remember? Surely no one could simply forget having a sword run through their body—whether in a virtual mind immersion game or otherwise.  Should you tell him what happened? What would he say? What would he do? Would he even believe you? And if he did, will he be coming at you for payback? Your mind was swimming, searching for something, anything to say to him.

“Well?” Aoba’s voice broke you from your daze.  You looked up at him and saw that he was looking at you expectantly.  Crap! You were hoping that he would just brush off what you said and go back to watching the game.

“It’s… It’s nothing,” you told him.  “Just forget it.”  You pulled his hand from your arm.  He let go without a fuss.  “I’m going home.”  You turned away from him and began to walk away towards your bike which you had left standing against the wall of a building with Merlin waiting ever patiently for you.  You let loose the breathe you had been holding.  You were so tired; a lot has happened today.  Who would have thought that it was possible to be tired emotionally instead of physically that usually happened to you after a day’s hard work.  Not even your incident with Mink ended with you feeling so… drained.

The bright lights of Rhyme began to shine brighter as the battle between the two players intensified.  There was a blinding flash, and you found yourself wrapped in white light.  At that very moment, the world also seemed to have stopped moving, and all noises became heavily muffled.  Goosebumps flooded your skin when you felt the tingling presence of magic and raised your guard—powerful spellcraft was at work here.  Was it the same person who sent the onyx gem snakes on you the night before?

A mass of bluish light manifested itself before you when you tensed up.  It gradually shifted into a featureless humanoid shape and glided over to you like a ghost with its arms raised to reach you.

Or rather, it tried to.

You were poised to fight the apparition the moment it got moving.  But just as it about to touch you with its fingertips, black ethereal barbed chains shot out from out of nowhere and halted its advance by wrapping around its form.  You sensed that they were made of the same dark magic as the Curses you fought on the Broken Ones.  The apparition struggled against the restraints that were beginning to pull it back.

You followed the chains with your sight to try and see where they had come from.  Once you have reached the end, your eyes widened in astonishment.  The chains had been coming out of Usui’s body!

“What the hell…?” you could only mutter in disbelief at what you were seeing.

A sharp yank tugged at the apparition quickly brought you out of your reverie.  Though it lacked a discernible face, its desperation to escape was obvious to you at the way it kept resisting and reaching out to you in its silent plea for help.  The chains gave another strong pull, but this time, you sprung into action and grabbed the apparition by its ethereal arms and tugged back.

“Hold on!” You cried out, but the chains were proving to be much stronger than you thought.  You did your best to hold your ground, even went as far as to use an earth-based spell to bind your feet and legs onto the concrete you stood on.

“No… don’t...” You heard a weak voice speak into your mind.  The apparition was trying to communicate with you. “Too late… hurry… des… troy...”

Destroy the chains? But that would mean letting go.  “I can’t do that! If I let go, you’ll be pulled in for sure!”

You made your grip as tight as you possibly can and began to pull even harder.

“Look, I don’t know who or what you are, or what is even going on right now, but I can tell you’re not evil; and that you don’t want to go! So just let me...” The sound of crackling reached your ears all of a sudden.  You could see tiny black-colored sparks rapidly dancing on the chains.  Before you knew anything else, a painful shock coursed through your arms and the rest of your body, forcing you to relinquish your hold on the apparition.  Your earth-bind spell broke at the sudden lack of concentration, and you went down on the cold hard ground.

You could only watch helplessly as the chains pull the apparition back and disappeared into Usui before everything flashed white once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take some time to review. Reviews are an author's life-fuel.


	4. 004. Link_Auspice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet more people, take a roller coaster ride from hell, more magic info, more weirdness. Plus an 'omake' at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a long time. I lost the original draft, and it was painstaking to come up with a new one. Please consider this a late Christmas and an early New Year's present to all you beautiful people who gave me Kudos and comments. I really appreciate all of you!

You didn't know how long you had been unconscious; not that it mattered when your mind felt scattered, your senses numbed, and any semblance of self was barely existent. As far as you knew in that moment, there was only a neverending expanse of darkness, and the fact that you were still very much alive.

All it took for whatever contented peace you had to be shattered was the stinging pain of a sharp slap to your face.

"Ugh!" A pained grunt escaped your lips and you raised a hand to your aching cheek on instinct.

"Hey! What the hell, man!" You heard a rather familiar voice cry out, but your mind was still muddled to recognize anything.

"I think you went a little too far there," another voice said. This one sounded smoother than the first.

"But it worked, didn't it? Look, she's waking up," said a third—one a few octaves deeper than the first two.  Once your thoughts and senses settled down and adjusted, you realized that your were lying down on your back with a rather firm pillow(?) under your head.  You slowly opened your eyes and found yourself looking right at Aoba's concerned upside-down face.

What the heck?

"Thank the gods, you're awake," he said.  "Are you okay?"

"Uhh..."  You took another moment to ponder and it turned out that your head had been resting on the azure-haired man's lap.  You began to push yourself up to sit and let out a pained groan; the concrete had not been kind to your back.

"Don't overdo it. You've been out for a while."

"What happened to me?" you asked, still a tad groggy.  You could still notice the lights and sounds of Rhyme not far off.   _That's still going on?_

"That's just it," answered Merlin, standing at your side along with a small fluffy dog with dark blue fur sitting next to him who looked at you with its dark beady eyes, "We have no idea."

He began to elaborate once he caught the confusion on your face.  "Immediately after your conversation with Sir Aoba, you decided to go home for the night, but no sooner after taking a couple of steps, you... froze."

"Froze?"

"Yes, you stopped to a halt in your tracks for no apparent reason.  At first I thought you had some final thoughts you needed to say, but you never moved.  Not to mention you had the thousand mile look in your eyes—nothing I tried short of scratching your eyeballs with my talons seemed to make you respond."

You shot Merlin the most incredulous look you could muster.  "Wha—my eyeballs? Merl, you're willing to go _that_ far?!" That earned some snickers behind you, but you were too flabbergasted to pay them any mind.

"Only as a final resort," he replied.  "Fortunately, before I could go through with it, you collapsed right where you stood."

"Collapsed?"

"Like a puppet with cut strings."  Searching your memory, you caught a hazy glimpse of what had transpired moments prior to waking.  It was true that you fell down in the end, but you didn't recall standing still like Merlin mentioned.

"I see," you simply said, deciding not to elaborate your experience due to Aoba's presence—though it was more due to the nature of said experience rather than having anything against him.  It wasn't like it was his fault anyway.  You'd rather talk about it with Merlin later at home.

"The whole thing was so bizarre that once I saw you suddenly unconscious, I couldn't help but panic," Aoba chimed in, his eyes downcast in shame.  "I knew that there wasn't anyone else other than me who could help, but I didn't know what to do other than make you at least comfortable."

"Which is why it was rather fortuitous that we happened to be passing by," said the voice your recognized as the smooth one from your earlier haze.  You turned around to find two men with spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes crouched at your right side.  One was short and dressed in a fancy black suit with a checkered tie, wearing a pair of spectacles with thick black rims and green handles.  The other was a bit taller, more built, and had a narrower face than the former.  His outfit seemed to compliment the other with his white long-sleeved shirt, black tie, and a matching vest and pants with similar checkered patterns as the first stranger's tie.

"Who are you guys?" you asked, never having seen them before.

"I'm Virus," answered the one in black who apparently owned the smooth calm voice.

"Trip," replied the taller one in a deep baritone.

"And you are...?" Virus asked.

"I'm [Name]," you finished.  "Nice to meet you both.  Same to you, Aoba."  You quickly remembered to acknowledge the blue-haired young man who went out of his way to keep you company in your short dire moment.

He blushed.  "O-oh! N-Nice to meet you too."

"Likewise," Virus chimed in.

"Yup," Trip followed.  You stared intently at Trip as the gears in your head began turning, thinking back to earlier moments—his voice rather familiar.  And while the man didn't mind the attention (in fact, both he and his companion found it amusing), no one denied how awkward it was.

"Is there something on my face or are you seeing something you like?" Trip asked, unperturbed with a playful smile. You narrowed your eyes in suspicion.

"You were the one who slapped me, weren't you?" you asked in turn rather than replying to his question.

"Heh, yeah that was my bad," he said nonchalantly.  "But it wasn't like shaking you awake was working, so..." he trailed off, but you already had a pretty good idea how that sentence ended and decided not to press further.

"Aoba-san was fretting over your unconscious self by the time we arrived," Virus piped up much to said person's chagrin.  "When he saw us, he started begging for help, looking as if about to cry.  It was so cute."

"Very cute," Trip agreed.

Aoba's cheeks grew warm with embarrassment.  "Knock it off, you guys," he said with a slight pout.  You have to admit that he really did look kind of cute looking like that, but you kept your giggles to yourself for his sake.

You went and got on your feet a moment later when sitting on the concrete had numbed your buttocks.  There was a bit of struggle, and Virus offered a little assistance by taking one of your hands in his for leverage and having his other hand on the small of your back for support.

You took note of how strangely cold his hands felt as you straightened up.  After that, you thanked him and proceeded to brush off the dirt and dust on your person.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" he then asked.  "Were you not feeling well?"

"Being in that crowd made you sick?" Trip asked as well.

"Hmm..."  You pondered a bit for an appropriate answer, not wanting to give away anything to weird that might raise more questions than you can bear answering.  However, nothing you thought of felt or sounded right. In the end, you decided to roll with Trip's unwitting suggestion.  "Yeah, that might be the case..."

"How are you feeling, [Name]?" asked Merlin.  You raised an arm for him to perch on, which he did.

"So-so, I guess," you replied.

"How about you, Aoba?" You heard a voice much deeper than Trip's ask, causing you to nearly jump.

"I'll be fine.  Grandma's medicine is already working. My headache's gone," you heard Aoba answer.  You turned to him and saw that he was talking to the small dog he now held in his arms.  You were amazed at how such a deep voice would come from such a little guy.

"That's a relief.  You know, while uncommon, fainting incidents around Rhyme do happen," said Virus.  "Not everyone could stand the bright flashes and loud sounds.  Which reminds me," he turned to Aoba, "What were you doing in a place like this? It's rare for you to be watching Rhyme."

For a split second, Aoba looked quite uneasy.  "Well, there's no particular reason," he said.

"Are you beginning to become interested in it?" Trip asked.

Aoba scoffed dismissively.  "Not really."

"Then did you just wander around and wind up here?" Trip cut in with a light chuckle.  He turned his sight on you.  "Or perhaps you're out on a date?"

You and Aoba turned to each other in puzzlement at first, but almost immediately both your faces turned into vibrant shades of red.

"N-No way! It's not what it looks like at all!" you sputtered, furiously waving your hands in front of you in adamant denial.

"We're not! For crying out loud, we just met today!" cried a flustered Aoba.  "And I could ask the same for you two, what are you even wandering around here for?"

"We are here because of work," answered Virus with an amused smile.

"It's because the Rhymers have been getting out of hand recently," Trip explained.  "And we have a feeling it's because of King Arthur."

You managed to hold back a sigh.  It seemed that whenever you go out, your faults would find a way to catch up with you; karma sure is one persistent b—

"That weirdo in armor who thinks he's some kind of superhero?" Aoba asked.  Although he spoke out of genuine curiosity, you couldn't help but cast a small glare his way for calling your alter-ego a weirdo.  "I've heard about those... Drive-by's, were they? Anyway, isn't King Arthur a good guy? What does he have to do with anything related to Rhyme?"

You already knew the answer to his question, but you decided to wait and hear what the well-dressed duo had to say.

Virus spoke first.  "Well, it isn't that the local hero had done anything directly. It's more to do with his impact upon the Rhymers."

"Ah?"

"As anyone who played Rhyme know, rankings are determined by the amount of opponents a player has beaten," Trip began to elaborate.  "While King Arthur certainly and literally made a name for himself, he's unfortunately at the bottom ranks with hundreds of other Rhymers since he’s never gone into more rounds."

Aoba looked skeptical.  "I get it, but if that's the case, what sort of 'impact' did King Arthur have? It can't be that big of a deal."

Virus gave a chuckle with a knowing smile.  "Actually it is, and this is where it gets interesting."

"What do you mean?" you asked.  Though you knew the result of your only engagement in Rhyme, you never really knew about the real reason behind it.  You've always thought that Sly Blue had friends who were out for revenge on his behalf.

"Simply put, after witnessing the hero's victory that night, Rhymers have become 'fired up'," he replied.  "The high frequency of Drive-by's are actually their near obsessive attempts to catch King Arthur and engage him in battle."

"So we think," Trip added.

Both you and Aoba were confused.  What the duo said didn't make any sense.

"Hold on, are you saying that Rhymers are hunting down King Arthur despite his insignificant position in the game ranks?" he asked.

"Why though?" as did you.

"Well... there are recordings of the battle scattered around CoilNet," said Virus.  Your eyes widened in alarm.  You were recorded using magic?

"We'd tell you to look them up, but..." Trip started, but trailed off.

Seeing that neither were going to give you proper answers, you turned to Merlin who had taken his place on your bike.

"Merl, search the net for any videos of King Arthur in Rhyme," you all but ordered.

"Alright," he answered in acknowledgment and immediately got started.

Aoba followed suit out of curiosity.  "You search too Ren," he told the dog in his arms.

"Understood."  Faint lights began zooming across the canine AllMate's eyes as it rapidly looked into several homepages at a time.

It didn't take long for the searches to end as there had been several videos uploaded online, especially CoilTube, Midorijima's own video sharing site.  You began to peruse each one, hoping that Virus and Trip were merely joking.

"What the hell?" Aoba's exasperated voice rang.  "Why would people upload these? They're horrible!"

He was right.  Every single video you watched so far had corrupted footage—most of of what you could see were either full of snowflakes or had terrible renderings that constantly shifted in and out of focus like broken television display.  Any moments of clarity were sparse and only lasted for a few seconds at most.  It was relieving to say the least; magic and technology never really got along.

"It isn't really all that surprising.  Flashy heroic types are often bound to garner attention," said Virus.  "And when people pay enough attention, some will either admire or despise them."  As he spoke, you felt a small familiar surge of mana several ways ahead by the alley entrance.  You diverted your attention from the videos to look past the blond duo and notice something slowly poke itself from the concrete.

"They will do anything to get a piece of the one they look up to in any way they can," added Trip.  "Capturing an elusive hero on video and showing it to the world like a trophy for example."  Whatever that thing was, it was definitely alive, albeit hidden by the shadows due to poor lighting.  You watched it pull its long undulating body upwards from the crack it made.  A young couple then appeared to peek from the right side of the entrance and stopped in their tracks after noticing the weird alien creature(?).  A closer look revealed that it resembled a thick single vine with a few tiny leaves growing here and there.

"Or having a chance to engage in the most epic Rhyme battle in their young lives," Virus continued.  The couple watched the vine wiggle about for a moment like a charmed snake before the boyfriend started poking at it with his shoe despite his girlfriend's protests.  The wiggling instantly became more violent in response and the single vine split into multitudes with a wet splotchy burst so sudden that they ran away, screaming in terror.  "It doesn't matter if he didn't make the top scores, the sheer thrill of fighting the hero like in some kind of boss in a fantasy RPG is enough to get them excited."

"Pft! That's it?" Aoba was incredulous.  "Talk about childish and lame."

You close down the net on Merlin.  "So you say."  The multiple vines then began to weave themselves into a tall form vaguely resembling a person.  You had a good idea who it was going to be as you've seen this creepy entrance of his many times before.

Trip then took notice of the logo on your apron.  "Say, you work at that new pastry place, don't you?" His inquiry caught your attention and you tore your gaze away from the weirdness and shifted your focus to him.

"Yeah," you answered.  "Why?"

"No reason," he said.  "I've been thinking of stopping by over there since it opened, but it's gotten so popular that it's demotivating for me to even step inside.  Plus, I really hate waiting in line."

"Well you can try coming in the mornings when we open," you said.  "I also take orders by phone and make deliveries."

"What about online?"

"We don't have a website.  Tending to the shop already takes up a lot of my time.  Making and maintaining a website would just be more work than I could handle."  You were more than ready to go home.  “So we just rely on word-of-mouth for advertising.”

"Anyway, it's late. I _really_ want to go home now."  You raised your arms to stretch and made your way back to your motorbike.

"W-Wait! Are you sure okay now?" Aoba asked.  "Your had quite an unexpected nasty fall. Maybe I should go with you just in case."

You raised an eyebrow, puzzled.  "What?"

"Aoba-san has a point.  If you collapse again, you'll need someone to catch you," Virus agreed.

"If you want, we can all go," Trip added.  "The more the merrier as they say."  You smiled at how thoughtful they were being as you took the handlebars in your hands.

"Thanks, but I'll have to pass," you said.  "After all, my escort is here."

It was their turn to be puzzled.  "Escort?" Aoba wondered out loud.  As if on cue, the sound of calm footsteps echoed in the narrow alley.  Everyone watched as the figure of the well-dressed taciturn arboreal homunculus stepped into the light brought by Rhyme and revealed himself.

"[Milord/Milady] [Name]," he called to you as he got closer to your odd group.  Virus and Trip stared at him in silent scrutiny while Aoba gaped at the formal way he addressed you.

"Kay," you answered him.  "Kind of odd for you to be out at this hour, don't you think?"

"You haven't come home," the treant explained.  "I was beginning to worry."

"Tch! You know better than anyone that I can handle myself out here."

Aoba looked back and forth between the two of you as you spoke to one another, utterly confused. "Uh, [Name], you know this guy?" he asked.

Both you and the treant turned to look his way. "Sure do!" you said, beaming.  "This is Kay, he's my, um... guardian? Yeah, that's sounds about right."  To be honest, you weren't quite sure what Kay really is to you.  You once tried to call him either 'Dad' or 'Big brother' after learning about those words, but Kay always shook his head in refusal— _"Only humans have fathers and brothers",_ he once said.

"Anyway... Kay, this is Aoba."  You pointed out the blue-haired man who simply stared at Kay in bewilderment.  "And those guys over there are the wonder twins, Virus and Trip."

"We're not twins," both blondes countered in unison.

"Eh, whatever."  You shrugged your shoulders in dismissal.  "Well, it's been nice getting to know you guys.  I've got another day of hard work ahead of me and I could really use some sleep. See ya!"

"Wait."  You turned around to see Kay marching over to a confused Aoba who took a step back once the treant stopped a little too close for comfort.

"Your name is Aoba, correct?" he asked.  "Is your last name Seragaki?"

"Y-Yeah," the latter answered. "How did you know that?" From where you stood, you noticed Virus and Trip watch the interaction going on before them with calculating looks in their eyes; it was as if they were sizing up Kay.

Instead of replying to Aoba's question, Kay simply raised a hand to his head.  You watched it sink deep into his verdant foliaceous locks and moved it about like he was rummaging in it.  A minute later, Kay began to pull his hand back and as he did so, you could make out multiple faint snapping sounds.  Everyone (save for you) watched it unfold in a mix of suspicion, bewilderment, and morbid fascination.

"Here."  Aoba flinched when a bunch of flowers nearly got shoved to his face.  He had a lot of people—of all genders—hit on him on more than one occasion, mostly because of his voice.  However, none of them were ever as straightforward as the stranger before him.

"Take them," Kay insisted, seeing the former hesitating.

"Uh...sure..."  The blue-haired man blushed and reluctantly reached for the offering.  The flowers resembled small daisies with thin stems and feathery-looking leaves.  A thin vine kept the bunch together in a simple bouquet.  "Thank...you?"

Virus and Trip narrowed their eyes at the stranger's supposed 'flirting gesture'.

The treant only nodded despite the uncertain show of gratitude.  "Make sure those get to Tae-san, will you?"

"Eh?"

The uncomfortable silence that had reigned between everyone the moment Kay arrived immediately turned awkward.  Even you were surprised at the unexpected turn of events; you never pegged Kay as someone who'd have a crush on anybody.  You didn't even know whether or not homunculi of any kind were even capable of developing crushes, let alone fall in love.

He's even trying to get someone to act as a romantic ambassador for him. How cute!

Once the initial shock wore off, you found yourself trying to stifle your laughter, as were the two blonde men with you, much to Aoba's dismay.

"It appears that somebody has eyes for your grandmother, Aoba-san," said a jovial Virus.

Trip sadly failed to muffle his own giggles. "Watch out. If you're not careful, she might just get swept off her feet!"

Aoba remained silent, frozen in shock by the news and the possibility of his grandma being somewhat involved with a younger man in some kind of relationship.

* * *

 

You and Kay took the opportunity to leave while the other three were distracted.  A few moments later, you heard Aoba's flabbergasted scream which was immediately followed by Akushima's bellowing through his megaphone and the chaotic sound of other people screaming and running away in panic.

"So," you began.  "'Tae-san', huh?" Your eyes arched in amusement.  "Didn't think you'd actually have a thing for anybody, being what you are and all."

"Tae-san is simply an acquaintance," Kay said as he led you down the quiet empty streets.  "I don't have a thing as you call it.  You know very well that I'm incapable of harboring any type of romantic inclinations.  The loyalty of a homunculus—whether they're made of flesh or wood—belongs to their creator alone."  He stopped to a halt as soon as he finished speaking, making you stop as well albeit confused.

"This spot is perfect."  Kay turned to glance at you.  "Get ready."

"What do you—"  Your ears were graced by a series of crumbling noises and you felt the ground tremble beneath your feet.  You looked down to see a single huge ring-shaped crack forming all around you and him on the ground and surrounded you with thick green vines not unlike what you've seen earlier.  The only difference was that these ones easily towered over you.  Your heart sank at the sight of them.  Was Kay seriously planning on going home like this?

"Seriously?" you asked the treant, incredulous as the vines began to weave themselves together.  "We're going home like this? You know I hate this kind of magical travel; can't you just teleport us like normal magic users do?"

"I believe this is the most inconspicuous approach, [milord/milady]," Kay replied.  "A teleport spell would have been too flashy and obvious, especially during the night."

"And you think the noise and property damage this is causing isn't? What if someone comes around and sees?"

"The risk is rather minimal, rest assured."  The weaving vines were halfway to enclosing your group in a small dome-shaped barrier.  "If anyone were to come by and see, they wouldn't believe their eyes, and if they did, no one else will."

"Surely there has to be another way! Merlin, tell him!" You turned to your AllMate only to find that he fell into sleep mode after a while of being idle.

"Oh, come on!" Darkness engulfed all of you at that exact moment once the vines finished; you couldn't see a thing.  Before you knew anything else, you were overcame with a sinking feeling in your gut.  It took you a minute to realized that you, Kay, and Merlin, along with the chunk of the street you stood on, were in fact, being moved.  Down, down, down into the earth; then straight ahead—slow at first, but gradually picked up speed in a matter of seconds.  It went as at such a speed that you got swept off your feet and flew backwards until you hit the barrier wall.  Trying to get back up proved futile at the speeds your were going.  You were grateful that your motorbike didn't slam onto you or anywhere else.  Kay must have made sure to prevent that, which was fine and all, but would it really kill him to do something similar for you?

The ride wasn't all smooth sailings either.  There were as much obstacles underground as much as there were above ground.  Kay could sense them and navigate the makeshift platform to avoid them.  Needless to say that the experience wasn't all that different from a ride at the craziest roller coaster ever built on the face of the earth.

And you hated every moment of it.

You returned to the safety of your home in record time, though you didn't really know since you were too busy pinning yourself on the platform using your earth-bind spell to keep yourself from getting tossed around like salad.  By the end of the trip, nausea had set in and you came out to the back-end of your building moaning and groaning.

"Oh mah gahd..." you slurred as you released yourself from the restraints you made.  Kay helped you stand up as you were still too dizzy from the ride. "Nevah agehn... jus' tel'por neh tahm..."

Kay took a hold of your shoulders and slowly guided your wobbly self along to the door.

"He already told you—too flashy," chimed Merlin, who had woken up a moment after and perched on the treant's shoulder.

"Sha-shaddap! Ah dun care."  Kay pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the back door. _"If an'one were ta come see, they wun' buh-leev dehr ahs, ev'n if dehy did, no wun else will."_ You pulled off your worst Kay impression ever.

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you," your AllMate chided.  "A nice warm bath and a steaming cup of ginger and spearmint tea ought to help you get back to your usual self."

You groaned in response, not feeling well enough to talk any more.  Merlin took it as a 'yes'.

"Very well, I'll leave [him/her] to you then, Kay," he said.  "I'll go on ahead."

"Understood," Kay answered, then silently used his magic to telepathically pass some orders to his familiars hanging around to prepare a bath while Merlin took off and disappeared up the steps to the home quarters.

* * *

 

You took a long sip of tea from a steaming cup and let out a relieved sigh as you leaned back on your plush recliner in the middle of your bedroom dressed in a bathrobe.

"Aah, this is nice..." you said, putting the cup back down on the small round table next to you.

The last few moments had been quite the ordeal—your nausea from the rocky trip was so bad that Kay had to rush you up the stairs and pulled the bathroom door off its hinges by having a bunch of jungle vines burst out of his back and used them as extra limbs just to get you to the toilet on time.  Once you were done worshiping the porcelain god, he insisted to let him help you get cleaned up.  You tried to argue, but another wave of sickness hit you before you let out a word, so you told him to just do "whatever" and he promptly helped you out of your clothes and put you in the tub full of water (courtesy of his familiars).  You sat quietly, waiting for your nausea to subside while he washed you. It wasn't a big deal for you to be naked around Kay; he had seen in you in all your glory many times when you were much younger and still incapable of bathing on your own.

He left after wrapping you up in your bathrobe and sitting you down while Gareth served you tea.

"Feeling better?" Merlin asked from his spot on the table as you let yourself sink further into the softness of the backrest.

"Mhmm..."  Your chair was truly the most comfortable one in the entire world. It never failed to make you drowsy in just a few minutes after sitting—a perfect retreat after stressful days.

"Don't go to sleep just yet," said Merlin.  "There's still an important matter for you to look into."

"Wha?" you asked in your sleepy haze.

"I've finished inspecting the mystery file you got this morning," he continued.  "Thankfully, I found no trace of any sort of anomaly. Would you like to see it?"

Though drowsy, you were still lucid enough to understand what Merlin asked of you, so you sat back up and straightened your posture.

"Alright, let's see it," you said.  Merlin opened the file without a word.  A small hologram window appeared before you displaying a black screen at first, but a few seconds later, a tiny pixel image resembling a princess with long blonde hair in a pink dress appeared in the middle followed by a large rectangular box under her.

Words slowly appeared inside the box not long after.

  
_X: Help me..._

_X: Someone, please save me... ..._

_X: Someone,_

_free me_

_from here... ..._

 

"Hey, this looks like one of those really old school games," you said, feeling nostalgic.  "Man, this takes me back."  Your first experience with video games happened around your first year on the island at fourteen when you unwittingly wandered into an arcade that had a huge selection of games both old and new school.  The colors and sounds fascinated you.  You tried to ask some people what it all was, but most of them either mocked or ignored you due to your language skills in the local dialect were on par with a child who had just learned to speak.  Luckily for you, there were also kind souls who did their best to explain it all to you and even showed you how to play. It was an interesting experience so to speak; you were truly entertained. However, once you opened your bakery and cafe, and on top of becoming a hero, you hadn't had the spare time for another visit.

Besides, fighting bad guys in real life was more exciting anyway.

After the message from the princess was over, the words 'Silent Oath' began to rise from the bottom of the screen in gray stylized pseudo-three dimensional font.  A white cross then appeared from the top halfway to meet the words and formed the title logo on the upper half of the screen.

An odd feeling rose from within you at the sight of the cross.  It seemed familiar for some reason.  Nonetheless, you pushed 'START'. You heard a chime confirming your choice before the screen blacked out.  Slow retro 8-bit music played in the background as an overworld map appeared.  You could see a huge grassland surrounded by forests and mountains and was divided in the middle by a dirt path.  On the left half of the map, sat a town.  Standing next to that town was a pixel warrior character garbed in blue, carrying a sword and shield in its hands.  The right half had a castle where a pixel king character with a crown, a red fur-lined mantle, and a scepter stood by.

A moment later, the two characters began to move and met at the dirt path where they both jumped a few times as if they were happy to see each other before going down said road with the king taking the lead.  Together they entered a cave by some mountains. Inside the cave was long wide passage arranged like a maze, and a lone treasure chest that sat in the middle, which the two characters ignore in favor of a set of stairs at the bottom left that led through the exit on the other side of the mountains.

They kept going south through a vast forest and stopped to a beach nearby before the screen faded into black.  The words 'TO BE CONTINUED' appeared to occupy the middle.

"That's it?" you asked, not very impressed.  "That was way too short, and I didn't even get to play.  Is this some sort of trailer for a new game?"

"Possibly," said Merlin.  "Though if the ending is to be considered, parts of it may be delivered periodically."

"Why use such old-school graphics though? I don't think anyone in this day and age would be impressed by that."  You leaned back and relaxed once more.

"No idea.  I t's probably looking to attract an older nostalgic audience.  Though if a full game comes out, would you play it?"

You put a finger on your chin as you pondered for an answer.  "Maybe.  But more out of curiosity than anything."

As soon as you closed the game screen, you let out a yawn and moved to stretch.  Today has been so eventful that you didn't realize how tired you were.  "Well, time to hit the hay as farmers often say."  You stood up and went to close the window and slide in the curtains.  Then you went across the room to your wardrobe and picked out a set of navy pajamas with yellow cosmic patterns, switching your bathrobe for them.

"[Name], one more thing," Merlin piped up.  "Tell me what happened when you fell."

"Huh?" You asked as you lifted up your blanket and sat on the bed.

"I felt a spike of mana in the exact same moment you collapsed.  I didn't say anything about it since we had... normal company.  What happened back there?"

"Well..."  You proceeded to recall your bizarre experience you had of the time, down to the last detail you could remember: the strange muted world, the ghostly apparition, and the barbed chains that mysteriously connected to Usui.  Merlin remained silent, listening intently throughout your explanation.

"Though it's kind of weird that you thought I was out cold for a while," you added.  "I understood that it was magic the whole time, but surely everyone involved that time would have noticed something.  The caster wasn't even being discreet about it! What the heck were they thinking? Throwing magic around like that? That's just asking for trouble."

"[Name], I'm afraid you've misunderstood," said Merlin.  "You truly were unconscious the entire time.  Aoba was beside himself before help arrived.  Other than that, everything went on as normal."

You looked at him, confused while your mind processed his statement.  "Wait," you said.  "Are you saying that it was all in my head?"

"Precisely," he replied.  "Though not by your own fault.  Given what you've told me, it's safe to say that you were hit by an illusory spell."

"Illusory?" you asked, unsure what the word meant.

Merlin nodded.  "In other words, someone tried to mess with you using illusions," he clarified.  "I'm not surprised that you're puzzled by it.  So far, what few spells you've learned have mostly revolved around element manipulation, body reinforcement, and ethereal object imposition."  He flew to perch on top of the headboard.

"Illusory magic is a deceitful and manipulative art," Merlin began to explain.  "It works by distorting the victim's senses, thus making them perceive things that either don't exist or are different from what they truly are.  Most mages who practiced the art were only able to alter the way they or the target are perceived.  However, those who fully master it were able to create complex and detailed worlds, create and implant false memories, or even change the paradigms of people."

"Whoa..." you remarked in fascination as you laid down on your pillow and pulled your blanket close.  "That sounds... really scary."

"It is," said Merlin.  "It doesn't help that it's also the most underestimated form of magic.  Especially in the modern era when the mention of illusions bring up images of useless parlor tricks often seen in shows."  Your AllMate had an unusual disdain for stately magic shows and anything else that tries to pass as magic for the 'clueless common masses'.  "You must be even more vigilant than ever in order to avoid becoming a target, otherwise you may find yourself doing something most regrettable; and by the time you realize the truth, it'll already be too late."

"Okay," you said.  You turned to your side and got comfortable, but you couldn't help but feel troubled as you thought back to the incident.  "Good night, Merlin."

"Good night."  He flew to shut off the lights and went back to rest on an empty space on the wall shelf a few steps to the right of your bed.

You lied awake, going over the discussion you and Merlin just had.

"You know,” you muttered out of the blue.  “I don't think the mage who cast the spell on me had any awful intentions.  From what I've seen, it was more like... they were trying to reach out for help."  Your mind began to fill with every possibilities you could imagine.  "What if they were trapped somewhere and can't get out? Maybe they're hurt, or maybe they were kidnapped and couldn't shout for anyone or else they'll be hurt by their cap—"

"[Name], you're rambling," Merlin cut you off.  "Whatever the case, I doubt you'd be able to help without any kind of lead. It's best for now to keep concentrating on what you _can_ do and who you _can_ help.  With your hands already full with the Broken Ones and Morphine, you'll only drive yourself crazy if you try to pursue this elusive illusionist."

You let out a breath of resignation.  He had a point; trying to add more to your already overflowing plate wouldn't do you or anyone any good. "Fine."

You closed your eyes let yourself drift off to sleep.

* * *

 

The next week went by without any major or new incidents.  Half of you was relieved at falling back to a more familiar routine, but the other half was riddled with worry about what to do with the major cases you saddled yourself with.  You know the Broken Ones and mysterious Ribsteez, Morphine, were connected somehow, but you couldn't figure out how.  As for the illusionist, you have nothing on them whatsoever, so you don't even know where to start.  You managed to hide your inner distress from others well enough as you kept your focus on running the cafe during the day and disciplining the city's wayward residents at night.

You passed by a table with a young couple telling their friends a wild story about a green tentacle monster they saw a week ago.  From the looks on their friends' faces, not only they didn't believe a word, they were tired of hearing it over and over again.  Apparently the couple have been going around telling anyone they could, but it didn't seem that anyone believed them.

You should have known that what little normalcy you had wasn't going to last for very long when the phone rang at work.  Kay was too busy ringing up customers so it fell unto you to answer.

"Harmony Delights Bakery and Cafe.  What can I do for you?"

The voice that answered was deep and masculine.  "Two slices of carrot cake.  Deliver it at..."  You struggled a little to pull out your notepad and pencil to write down the person's address.  "Did you get all that?"

"Umm, sir, could you please repeat your ad—"

"Good.  Bye."  The beeping dial tone rang in your ear as you remained standing on your spot, trying to make sense of what had just happened.  You've met some rude customers since the day you set up and opened shop—Akushima being one of them—but this guy was a whole other level.

"He didn't even give his name," you mumbled as you put the phone back.  While you were a bit miffed, you supposed that it didn't really matter in the end since you have his address. Business was business.  As long as that guy paid, you weren't going to complain.  The recipient lived somewhere in the East District, quite a distance away from the cafe.  You and Merlin left as soon as you could and went through Aoyagi Street with Merlin navigating.

As you cruised along in the quiet road between buildings you noticed a familiar tag art drawn here and there on the walls: fancy brush calligraphy rendered in 3D lettering over a stylized camellia blossom with a red outline of a red sparrow perched on the upper right side.  It was the symbol of the Rib team, Benishigure, whose pompous leader you had the displeasure of meeting a week prior.  For some weird reason, Rib teams liked to display their tag art on every visible spot they could reach.  They were like animals that went around marking their territory.  The only difference was that Ribsters mark theirs in a more artistic and visually appealing manner.

Another thing that baffled you was that no one else seemed to mind the rampant unabashed display of vandalism that stared at them right in their faces.  Was it out of fear of facing retribution should they call the team out? Also there were a number of men wearing traditional Japanese garb alongside their modern outfits; perhaps they were Koujaku's teammates.  You've heard that sometimes, Rib team members emulate the fashion styles of their leader for a sense of belonging within the team.  You couldn't help but feel wary.  Every single one of them seemed rather intimidating, especially when a couple stared at you as you moved along.  Though every once in a while you could see a few of them talking amicably with some regular civilians, comforting a crying lost child, and even helping out an old couple carry their heavy luggage.  Some were even talking happily with a policeman.  Speaking of the police, while they aren't the most honest bunch of people, they may mingle with the islanders... well, depending on money or their mood.  Some Ribsters used them to gain information or to have some things overlooked.  Another check on your list of reasons to dislike Rib and anyone who partook in it.

"[Name]! Hey, [Name]!" You heard a voice call out to you from out of the cacophony of shuffling feet and babble of talk.  You looked to its source to your right, and saw Aoba waving and jogging on the sidewalk next to you.

"What the... Aoba?" You stopped your bike, letting him catch up.  He stopped to catch his breath for a moment before straightening up and looking at you with a distressed look on his face.

"[Name], quick! I need you!" he cried, giving the you most intense look you’ve ever seen.

"Huh?!" A blush spread across your face in an instant. _“What’s with that look? And why suddenly so forward? I don’t even know you well enough."_ You got cut off from your musing when the azure-haired young man clambered into your sidecar with a grunt and curled down, breaking you from your musing.

"What in blazes are you doing?!" you asked, baffled at his strange behavior.  "I have a delivery to get to, you know!"

"So do I, but just...  Just keep going and let me hide in here for now," he said, shuffling around trying to make himself as small as possible to fit into the tight space past the seat.

"Sir Aoba, how is Ren doing?" asked Merlin from the top of the seat backrest.  Then as if in response, Ren's face peeped out of the bag resting by Aoba's belly.

"I'm here," he said.

"Hoo, so I see you’re doing well."

"Seriously, Aoba.  Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?" you asked.  "What are you hiding from?"

"It's not a 'what'. It's a 'who'," he said.

You sighed and pinched the skin between your eyebrows in annoyance. " _Who_ are you hiding from?"

"I'm hiding from that hippo and his hangers-on."  You gave him a look at his ridiculous response.  Did he hit his head somewhere? Ate something funny? Is he sick?

You thought about pressing him further for answers, but decided against it since it didn't look like he was going to give you any straight answers.  Plus, you were beginning to attract attention from passers-by.

"Ugh! You know what, I'm not even gonna ask," you said in a huff.  "Don't get mad at me when you miss your delivery."

You restarted your motorbike and moved on with Aoba and Ren in tow.

Not long after, Koujaku, sandwiched between two giggling girls, arrived at the spot you once occupied.

"That's strange," he said, looking around.  "I could've sworn I saw Aoba-san around here."

"Who?" asked one of the girls.

"It must be the friend Koujaku-san was talking about," answered the other before looking up to him. "Am I right?"

The man flashed her a bright beaming smile.  "That's right, Aoba-san is a childhood friend of mine."  The smile then changed into a melancholic one.  "I wanted to introduce him to you cute ladies, but it appears that we just missed him."

The girls cooed at his dejection, looking at him with sorrowful eyes.

"Please don't be sad, Koujaku-san," said one.

"To think he'd ditch you like that, what an awful friend," said the other.

Koujaku raised his hands to placate them.  "Now, now, girls. I'm sure he had already had prior engagements," he said.  "It wasn't like we had planned to meet here anyway.  There will always be other times."

It seemed to work as the girls settled down.

"So, how about we get something to eat.  I'm feeling rather peckish," he suggested.  "I head a new cafe has opened up recently around here.  Would you be so kind as to show me the way?" The girls perked up and were all over him in an instant, pulling him by the arms as they led him away and suggesting different kinds of dishes for him to try.  He chuckled at their spirited enthusiasm while he allowed himself to get dragged along.

* * *

 

The crowd got thinner as you went further away from the commercial area and towards the residences where towering apartment complexes stood.  Your delivery destination was close when you turned left at the road and headed straight.  As you turned the corner, you saw a man crouching down by the roadside.  He seemed to be whispering something, but the sounds of your motorbike engine drowned out any sounds he made.  He was a Broken One.  Your heart sank whenever you find them, even more so knowing that there was no one else out there besides you who could help.

"People do that very often these days," you heard Aoba quip.  You glance down to see him seated upright, though he remained on the floor of the sidecar, slouched with his arms on the leather seating.  Ren had been taken out of his bag and now sat on the vacant corner of the seat, just across from the box of carrot cake slices you were supposed to deliver.

"Sitting down on the ground and looking at the sky, muttering to themselves against the wall like that," he continued.

You grunted in acknowledgment and kept your eyes looking ahead.  You already knew what he was talking about.

"People like that have always been around, but it feels like more of them have been showing up lately."

You said nothing; you could do so much by yourself.  With every single Broken One you saved, two more seemed to emerge in their place.  And while you saved many, you knew deep down that you barely made a dent in their total numbers.  It goes to show that you still have a much long way to go for your efforts to be truly significant.

The road began to narrow as you went deeper into the complex.  At that point, the only people around were you and Aoba.

"You have reached your destination," Merlin and Ren said in unison.  Both AllMates exchanged looks and sounds of confusion.  You stopped in front of an old narrow building.

"Finally, we're here," you and Aoba chorused, then exchanged similar confused expressions.  Immediately both of you turned to your AllMates.

"Ren re-check the address," said Aoba.

"Merlin, go over the address again," you said.

"Of course/Certainly," came their simultaneous responses, following their respective owners' commands.

A moment passed.

"The address checks out, Aoba," said Ren.

"We are on point, [Name]," said Merlin.

You turned to Aoba who seemed to share his astonishment with you.

"Who'd have thought we had the same destination all along?" you asked.

"Talk about an odd coincidence," said Aoba, then let out a small laugh.  "Heh, now I'm glad I flagged you over for a ride."

"You didn't flag me for a ride, you flagged me so you could hide in my sidecar from a hippo," you said as you climbed off your bike.  "Which, by the way, is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  If there was ever a wild animal like that on the loose, people surely would have noticed.  Though the chances of that ever happening in the first place would be a solid zero since there aren't any zoos or wildlife sanctuaries anywhere on this island."  Platinum Jail might, but no one knew for sure.

"Geez, [Name], no need to get too literal about it."  Aoba stood up, legs a little shaky from sitting improperly in a tight sidecar for a while, and carefully got off with Ren in his hands.  "Good joke, though."

"That wasn't a..."  You stopped mid-sentence when you felt a tingle run down your spine.  Aoba fell silent as well, his body stiffened and his senses were alert.  His eyes darted around as if looking for something.

"Hey," he said.  "Are you getting the feeling like someone's watching?" His tone full of suspicion.

"Kind of," you replied.  "But I don't see anyone here besides us."

He visibly relaxed.  "So it's just my imagination?"

"I'm pretty sure no two people can imagine the exact same thing."

Suddenly, you felt a sensation similar to loosing your footing on a set of stairs.  Everything that reflected in your eyes stopped moving and drifted to your step with a great speed just after that.  You hear a loud 'ow' and turned to see Aoba clutching one hand on the side of his head, his face contorted in a grimace of pain.

"Aoba, you alright?" you asked out of concern.

"Wh...at...?!" was his only response you heard as your thoughts became muddy like turbid water, and your hands and feet turned numb.  The only other thing you knew was that Aoba was feeling the same things you were.  For a moment, everything turned white.

After feeling a strange sense that tormented your whole body, a view opened out before your eyes.  You let out an audible gasp.

"Where am I?" you asked no one in particular.  You took some time to look around and saw that your surroundings had changed.  The old buildings and concrete road were replaced by what appeared to be a vast digital void while the sky and the ground had hexagonal wire frames acting in their stead that illuminated the void with the light they emitted.

Overall, it's almost like you've been sucked into a game.

...A game...?

A sense of foreboding came over you when you realized the kind of situation you were in.  "Oh no..." you whispered.  "Not again."

* * *

 

**OMAKE**

  
"It appears that somebody has eyes for your grandmother, Aoba-san," said a jovial Virus.

Trip sadly failed to muffle his own giggles.  "Watch out.  If you're not careful, she might just get swept off her feet!"

Aoba remained silent, frozen in shock by the news and the possibility of his grandma being somewhat involved with a younger man in some kind of relationship.  He was so dumbfounded that he didn’t notice that you and Kay had already left. His eyes remained fixated on the small humble bouquet of flowers.  The flowers meant for Granny.  The flowers chosen specifically as a present from a stranger who entrusted him to pass it onto Granny.  Granny’s flowers.

Ren popped his head out of Aoba’s bag and began pawing at his owner.  “Aoba, you’re thinking too much.  My though circuit is almost short-circuiting.”  No response from the twenty-three-year-old young man.  “Aoba!”

“My, it seems that Aoba-san isn’t handling the news well,” said Virus mirthfully.

“Not at all,” said Trip.

Aoba clutched the flowers in his hand tightly and let out an angry grunt.  He then threw his head back and let out the loudest scream of outrage he could muster.

“WHAAAAAAAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLL!!!”

Unfortunately, such a move was bound to be noticed by loads of people.

“Hey! I heard screaming! What the fuck is going on here?!” Including a certain overzealous hard-boiled detective.  The lively enthusiastic atmosphere of Rhyme immediately died out the minute his voice rang, effectively startling every person in the alley more than Aoba’s scream did.  Usui disappeared like smoke, suspending the game.

“Holy crap! It’s Akushima!” cried one of the spectators upon spotting him along with his troop.

“Don’t go making a fuss here!” Akushima roared through his megaphone.  “ALL OF YOU FUCKERS ARE UNDER ARREST!!”

“Run for it!” Everyone, from the Rhyme participants to the spectators took off in all directions.  Chaos ensued a police officers moved and spread out to apprehend anybody they could get their hands on.  Some unlucky ones got beaten before having their wrists bound in handcuffs.

“Tch! Officer Loudmouth and his stooges have arrived,” said Virus, looking a tad miffed that his time talking to Aoba was abruptly cut short.  Trip was just as annoyed, but didn’t say anything.  “And this is where we leave.  You should hurry too, Aoba-san.”

Aoba nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Bye bye, Aoba,” said Trip.  The three young men quickly parted ways.

“Don’t you idiots dare run away! We’re going to arrest EVERY SINGLE SHITHEAD HEEEEEEERE!!” Akushima looked like he was just about to pop a blood vessel.  Aoba swiftly ran from the bedlam to avoid getting caught.  But just as he was about to come back out onto Aoyagi Street…

“Oof!” the azure-haired young man staggered back and dropped the bouquet when he bumped into a large hard body.

“Whoops. Sorry,” he quickly apologized.  He turned around and saw that he had collided with a tall intimidating man in a gray coat and long brown dreadlocks.

The man stared at him with scowl on his face, making his annoyance obvious.  Chills ran through Aoba’s body as he looked to those eyes.

“S-Sorry about that,” Aoba apologized again, hoping that the taller man wouldn’t start to hurt him.  “I was in a hurry and...”  The man’s eyes narrowed and he turned to walk away before the other could finish.  Aoba watched him walk to a motorbike parked on a nearby space and drove away without as much as a word.

“What’s up with that guy?” he muttered to himself as the bike rider disappeared into traffic.

“Are you alright?” Ren asked.

“Yeah,” said Aoba. “That was close.  For a moment there, I thought he was gonna beat me up.”

“It’s a relief you’re safe,” said Ren.

“Yeah.”  Aoba petted Ren’s furry head.  He was glad he had Ren around; his concerned words and soft fur really help him calm down in times when he got upset in some way.

“Let’s go home.”  His mood having improved, Aoba began to make his way down main street once more.

“Wait, Aoba.  You forgot the flowers,” Ren called back.

“Oh, right.”  Aoba turned back to pick up the fallen bouquet, but soon decided against it.  “You know what, forget it,” he said, glaring at the bouquet with utmost contempt.

“But aren’t those for Tae-san?” asked Ren.

“I know. That’s why we’re leaving it.”  Aoba resumed his journey home.  “A guy like that hooking up with Granny just seems so… wrong.  He might be some sleazebag looking to take advantage of a frail old woman.  And it’s not like he’ll know.  What’s he gonna do? Drop it on our doorstep himself?”

He soon entered the residential area and walked a bit further to a cozy two story house.  But when he was halfway to approaching the steps, he stopped his tracks.  The reason? A familiar bouquet lying before the front door.

“Ren, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s the flowers,” his AllMate confirmed.

“Then I’m not imagining it.”

“No, you’re not.”

“But… how...”

“I don’t know, but my scans indicate that it is, in fact, the exact same one.”

“It got here _before us?!_ ”

“Most likely.”

A vexed Aoba marched up the steps leading to his home and angrily snatched up the bouquet.  He turned around as he raised his right arm aiming to throw it as far away as possible.  However, before he could go through with the motion, he felt something squeeze his wrist.  Hard.

“Gah!” He pulled back his throwing arm and drew it close to see what was wrong.  What he saw nearly took his breath away.

The collective stems of the flowers had grown and now held his wrist in a strong vice-like grip.

“Aaah! Freaky demon flowers from hell!” Aoba flailed his arm about in an attempt to shake off the vile flowers.  “I knew that guy was up to no good!”

But despite his best efforts, all that Aoba managed to accomplish was have the flowers hold on even tighter.

“Aoba!” Ren upon hearing his owner’s groans of pain.  The more the tried, the grip on Aoba’s wrist had tightened to the point that his hand was beginning to swell, turn purple, and feel numb.

“Alright, alright, I get it!” He cried out in surrender.  “I won’t throw you away. Just please let me go!”

Having heard his plea, the flowers released their hold on him.  When Aoba inspected them, they returned to being normal common flowers.

He sighed.  “What a night this is turning out to be.”

“Are you alright?” asked Ren.  Aoba switched hands with the flowers and inspected his right hand.  It was still tingling from the blood that came rushing back into this veins.  He wiggled his fingers, curled them, and made a fist a few times, and gave it a few twists along the wrist; nothing broken or injured.

“I’ll be fine,” he said.  He then slid the front door open effortlessly and stepped inside.

“I’m ho—”

“When will you ever learn, you stupid grandson?!” An angry thunderous voice shook Aoba’s eardrums the minute he entered the house, making his ears ring.

“So… loooud...” he groaned.

The source of the thunder was none other than an old woman with pink hair in a conservative yellow dress—Aoba’s grandmother, Tae Seragaki, a.k.a Granny. She stood at the platform by the entrance, snorting and scowling at him

“Of course! I’m yelling so you could hear me clearly!” she went on, brandishing a ladle at her grandson.  Aoba often wondered where she got her loud voice from. It was so mysterious, he couldn’t help it.  “How many times do I have to tell you?! You need to lock the front door when you leave!”

“Oh, did I forget again?” Aoba looked sheepish. “I’ll start being more careful tomorrow, so—”

“Bah! How many times have I heard that before?” Granny huffed.  “If you’re that unreliable, I’ll never be able to die in peace.”  She let out a rough snort and started to make her way back towards the kitchen while making loud footsteps.  “Well, hurry up and come on in.”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” Aoba whined while kicking off his shoes.  Shouting happened regularly at the Seragaki household, but the relationship between its two members weren’t bad.  It was rather good, actually.  For Aoba, Granny’s shouting was proof that she was fine.  If her shouting were to disappear one day, he’d be very lonely.

He stopped to look at the flowers he still held, wondering if it’s a good idea to give them to his Granny as he was instructed.  They might pull the same trick on her as they did him.

_“Make sure these get to Tae-san.”_

He remembered how tightly they grasped his wrists, it was as real as it could be.  And being at the age Granny was in, there was no telling whether she’d survive.  He knew Granny could be abrasive sometimes, but she often meant well.  Aoba couldn’t think of anyone who’s bad side she’d get on.  A lot of people respected her for being a skilled medical practitioner; much more than an expensive unskilled doctor.

He’ll just have to ask her directly about that guy.

“Look Granny, I got you something.”  He held up the bouquet for her to see. Granny stopped and caught a glimpse of the offering.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere,” she said with a dry tone.

“Actually, these aren’t from me,” said Aoba, stepping onto the hallway.  “A weird guy asked me to give these to you earlier in the evening.  I think his name was Ray? No, that’s not it...”

Granny quickly pivoted to fully face her grandson at his attempt to guess a name.  She already had her own guess, but she needed to make sure.

“This guy,” she said.  “Does he have green hair, pink eyes, and a stone face?”

“Yeah,” answered Aoba.  “Wait, how do you know that?”

“I see,” she said, sounding relieved.  “Put those on the kitchen counter. I’ll get to them later.”  Aoba stared at his granny’s retreating back, confused.  Was Granny hiding something?

* * *

 

Dinners at home were often simple fare, but for Aoba and Granny, they were enough.  Granny’s cooking weren’t restaurant level, but she knew how to whip up delicious hearty dishes that her grandson never failed to appreciate.

As they ate, Aoba took a glance at the flowers on the countertop, which were placed in a drinking glass filled with water as a makeshift vase.  He eyed with suspicion, expecting them to start growing legs, claws, fangs, and attack either him or Granny like rabid animal.

“What are you looking at?” Granny asked, noticing her grandson trying to stare holes at the flowers.

Aoba nearly choked on his food, startled at the question that sounded of out nowhere.  “N-Nothing,” he said.  However, Granny was no fool.

“You want to ask how I know the person who sent the flowers through you, isn’t it?” she asked.

Aoba hesitated to agree.  He never mentioned anything so far as to avoid rousing her ire by prying into her personal life.  “Well...”

“It’s fine.  It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything,” she said.  “We ran into each other just as I stepped out of the apothecary after purchasing the necessary herbs for your medicine.  I fell down, but he apologized and introduced himself, then helped me back up.  Before I knew it, he and I were walking together and talking as though we were good friends.”  Granny took a sip of green tea.  Aoba listened closely, waiting for anything that would implicate the guy who gave him the demon flowers.

“I may have confided your condition to him and complained how expensive the herbs were.  It was then he offered to help me.  He told me he could give me any kinds of herbs for free if I were to ask.  It sounded too good to be true, so naturally, I refused.”  Aoba relaxed a little, softly releasing the bated breath he had been holding.  “However...”  He perked back up in attention.  “What he did next made me change my mind.”  

“What did he do?” Aoba asked, holding his chopsticks in a firmer grip.  “Did-Did he hurt you? Threaten you?” Another sip of tea from Granny.  “Did he do something… inappropriate?”

Granny immediately caught on to what he was implying and slammed her cup on the table.  “Get you head out of the gutter, you stupid grandson! Nothing of that nature happened!”

Aoba raised his hands and backed off.  “Sorry,” he said.  “Then, what _did_ he do?”

Granny sighed.  “To be quite honest, it was so bizarre, I still have a difficult time believing it.  What he did was… He gave me a whole bunch of herbs, so much that my basket couldn’t hold them all.”

Aoba deflated at the anticlimactic reveal.  “That’s it? Really? That wasn’t bizarre at all, well, aside from the fact that he was carrying herbs with him and giving them away, but still...”

“Hold your horses, I’m not finished yet.  Anyway, I asked him where and how he got so much.  He didn’t answer; at least, not with words.  He simply reached up to his head, and plucked off some of his hair, except what he had in his hand wasn’t hair—they were camphor leaves.”

Aoba’s eyes became wide as saucers.  Hair.  Plucking.  Leaves.  His eyes slowly and nervously moved to gaze at the glass of flowers next to the sink.  He knew exactly what Granny was describing; he saw it happen a while ago.  A sinking feeling began to pool in his chest as he connected the dots.

“The whole thing was so strange that I couldn’t speak, but he wasn’t done yet,” Granny kept on.  “He kept pulling more and more different herbs from his hair.  Once, he plunged his _entire forearm_ into his head and pulled out a bunch of chamomile.  I told him I’d say yes if only he’d stop being so strange.  And with that, we had a deal.”

“Ch… Chamomile?” asked Aoba, his voice shaking.  

“Oh, it’s what those flowers by the sink are called,” she answered.  “The flower heads can be dried and crushed for headache medicine.  It’s one of the ingredients I use to make yours.”  There was a loud noise of a chair sliding on the floor.  Granny looked to see Aoba standing up, clearing the table in a hurry.

“Thanks for the meal,” he said with a forced smile while he put away his dirty dishes.  “I’m gonna go upstairs now.  Glad to know you’re not hooking up with a stranger half your age.”

Granny almost choked on her tea.  “What did you say?!”

Aoba made his way to the open doorway of the kitchen and stopped just outside of it.  “I mean, wouldn’t it seem weird to see an old woman and a younger man walking together, holding hands, looking into each others’ eyes, being all lovey-dovey?”

“Aoba...” said Granny with a warning tone.

“And if somehow you two get married and you move to live with him, who’s going to lock the door when I forget?”

“You stupid grandson!” Granny grabbed her chopsticks and flung them at Aoba who ran away upstairs, laughing. They missed and hit the door frame, adding a couple more holes to the already holey wood. “Don’t forget to take your medicine, you punk!” she yelled as he disappeared into his room at the top.

Granny picked up her cup of tea once again once she calmed down.  It was almost empty, but she didn’t mind it at all.  She was glad Aoba was healthy and lively; she wouldn’t have it any other way.  Although, she wasn’t sure how to feel when she heard that he met that man.  She hoped he didn’t freak him out so much; that man could be so unmindful of other people sometimes.  But she found it fortunate that they met (her and that man).  He saved her a lot of time and money with his donations, which in turn, helped a lot of people other than her grandson.

She drank the last dregs of tea and released a wistful breath.  “I’m way too old for that sort of thing.” 

There were a few things Granny left out on purpose in her story to Aoba; things he wouldn't be able to comprehend or accept.  He was content with the simplicity of everyday mundane life after breaking free of his tumultuous teenage years.  It would be unfair to him to have it disrupted.  Granny has seen a lot in her time and knew that the world wasn't always as it seemed.  “That man is much older than both of us combined.  I guess it’s a given when one isn’t really human.”

* * *

 

Up in his room, Aoba lied on his bed wrapped in his blanket, staring at the small plastic container containing his pills he held on one hand, mulling over his granny’s story.

“Have you taken your medicine yet?” asked Ren who sat by his head.

“No...” he answered.  His thoughts drifted back to the strange man who fetched [Name] from an alley.  [Name] was kind as to introduce him, even though first impressions could have gone better.  When that guy (whose name he resolved to never mention) began to pull his trick, he couldn’t help but be amazed and astonished.  He was definitely some sort of magician, and a good one; perhaps too good.  No normal person could pull off something like that guy did.  However, when that guy asked him to give a bunch of flowers to his granny—who apparently was in a first-name basis with her—his awe was soon replaced with shock then slowly with apprehension with a side of anger.

To say that Aoba was protective of his granny was an understatement.

He pulled down the long sleeve of his shirt to inspect his right wrist and gave a frustrated hiss.  It was starting to bruise.  The bouquet of cursed chamomile that now sat in the kitchen hadn’t moved at all during dinnertime.  Aoba wanted to deny it, he wasn’t one to believe in anything paranormal or supernatural.  He’d rather live a normal peaceful life with Granny with as little hassle as possible.  He once tried a more exciting yet dangerous lifestyle back when he was younger, but all that got him in the end was an accident that gave him time at the hospital.

But when Granny told him of her deal with that guy, it felt to him like she had made a deal with the devil.

Aoba traced a finger along them and grimaced; these were going to take days to heal.  Thankfully, no one else would see them under his long-sleeved clothes.

“If you don’t take your pills, your headaches will come more frequently and painfully,” advised Ren.  “I strongly suggest you take them as soon as possible.”

“Fine.”  Aoba sat up and opened the container and poured out two pills in his free hand, but refrained from taking them just yet.  He had been taking these for a while; to think they were made using herbs Granny got from that guy.  He thought back to the chamomile that came to life when he threatened to get rid of it.  Will something happen to him if kept taking the strange herb pills? No, Granny was smarter than that.  She’d never do anything that would threaten the life of the only remaining family she has left.   And as much as he didn’t want to admit it, these pills were a tremendous help at keeping him functional.  He popped the pills into his mouth, washed them down with a glass of water and shut off the lights, deciding to turn in early before bidding Ren a good night.

Hopefully, tomorrow would be good and normal.


End file.
